The battle for the Deputy President (DP) seat has escalated into one of the most significant political contests ahead of the 2027 general elections. The schemers surrounding the position are not accidental, given the broad-based government that includes the late Raila Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s loyalists.  

It’s most likely that President William Ruto is reworking his strategy to either consolidate or reconfigure his 2022 winning coalition. Political analysts suggest that forcing competition for the Presidential candidate’s running mate position is a way to ensure that only the most politically capable and loyal candidate remains.  

The scramble for the deputy president seat is being intensified by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ambitions, whose leaders have openly shown interest in the position, signalling that the current seat occupant, Prof. Kithure Kindiki, could be displaced if the Mt. Kenya region does not unequivocally demonstrate its support for President Ruto’s re-election bid.  

ODM party leader Oburu Oginga insists that the party harbours no bad blood with Prof. Kindiki, and the quest for the DP role is not off the table. However, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leaders from the Mt. Kenya region have insisted that the DP’s position is not up for negotiation.  

In Kenya’s politics, both regional and party alliances are crucial in elections. With this in mind, President Ruto must navigate fault lines within his coalition, regional vote-blocs, and changing electoral dynamics.   

President Ruto cruised to victory with overwhelming support from the Mt. Kenya region, and his fallout with his then DP, Rigathi Gachagua, was a defining moment in his relationship with the rich vote bloc. He quickly picked Prof. Kindiki as the replacement, and this has helped in silencing a narrative driven by Gachagua after his impeachment that the Mt. Kenya region had been short-changed.   

While having a DP from the Mt. Kenya region may help in ring-fencing the region, the President must also look beyond his current base and broaden his support in regions such as Western Kenya, Nyanza, and the Coast. This implies that alliances and coalitions will most definitely shape the outcome of the 2027 general elections, and he must reach out to other political players and parties just like he did during the previous elections.  This means that the person picked for the DP’s slot must bring votes and tick many other boxes to increase President Ruto’s chances of being re-elected.   

However, the most important criterion for the right presidential running mate is the person’s ability to step up at a moment’s notice should disaster, illness, or the law make the sitting President nugatory, as Prof. Makau Mutua once said in an article published in the Sunday Nation on January 16, 2022. This implies that the DP must be prepared on Day One to assume power in the event of a vacuum in the office of the President.  

This preparedness to lead the country should be the most important consideration when picking a running mate. In Kenya, this is particularly so because the DP serves for the remainder of the presidential election cycle. We saw in Tanzania that Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan rose to the Presidency in 2021, after the demise of President John Magufuli.