Kenyan activists form coalition to field candidates in 2027 polls

The Kenya Left Alliance (KLA), a new coalition of social justice organisations, has announced plans to field candidates for all elective seats in the 2027 general elections, positioning itself as an alternative to the country’s dominant political formations.

Speaking at the coalition’s first national delegates congress on Saturday, KLA leaders said their goal is to challenge what they described as decades of misrule by Kenya’s ruling class, which they blamed for unemployment, poverty, and oppression.

“KLA is a bold, ambitious and urgent call to action for a national democratic revolution. Our ballot revolution heralds a new phase of political organizing by the Kenyan left,” said Nduko o’Matigere, National Chairperson and Party Leader of the Ukweli Party, one of the member organisations.

The alliance describes itself as a “socialist, feminist, pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist coalition uniting progressive political parties, movements, and individuals.” Saturday’s gathering brought together activists from KLA’s affiliate groups, including Kongamano La Mapinduzi, Social Justice Centre, and Ukweli Party.

Co-founder of the Mathare Social Justice Centre, Wanjira Wanjiru, said the congress marked the start of a nationwide campaign for “liberation from the anti-people politics of oppression.”

The alliance criticised the political pact between President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance and former opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) following the June 2024 Gen Z uprising, arguing that it eroded the presence of a strong opposition.

“In response to the people’s rebellion, Kenya’s two most powerful and corrupt political cartels – Kenya Kwanza and ODM – united in their shared greed for power and wealth, only differing in the targets of their ethnicity-based politics,” said activist Sungu Oyoo.

KLA said it aims to unite Kenyans across ethnic and generational divides around a platform advocating access to employment, universal healthcare, education, land, water, and food security.

“This ballot revolution is the only way to permanently banish from our governance the caretakers of imperialism and neocolonialism that have ruled for the last six decades,” said Sefu Sanni, a social justice advocate.

The activist coalition’s manifesto prioritises rebuilding and expanding Kenya’s industrial and agricultural capacity to generate jobs for young people.

The outfit invited citizens to register as members, volunteers, mobilisers, and candidates for seats ranging from ward representatives to the presidency under the Ukweli Party, founded by activist Boniface Mwangi.