A University of Nairobi professor has described President William Ruto of Kenya as “the most hated man” in the country, just a year after a popular uprising by youth protesting high taxation, dubbed the “Gen Z Protests” almost toppled his government.
The president’s image will take another hit this weekend when one of the candidates seeking to make him a one term president in the next election, Dr. Fred Okeng’o Matiang’i, makes a visit to Minnesota to meet with the large Kenyan community. Matiang’i served as interior minister in the preceding administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta – of which Ruto was the deputy president.
On Sunday, Aug. 3, he will address a free town hall style event dubbed “The Kenya We Deserve” at the 1,000 capacity Ames Center in Burnsville.
Announcements on Kenyan community forums and WhatsApp groups have been reminding people to register for the free event to ensure admission.
The free town hall event will be preceded the night before with a $250 per person “Dinner with Matiang’i” at the Brooklyn Park Marriott on Saturday, Aug. 2.
“This is more of a listening tour for Dr. Matiang’i as he wants to hear what Kenyans here in Minnesota have to tell him regarding the issues the country is facing,” Dr. John Makori, chair of the local host committee, told Mshale.
Remittances to Kenya by its diaspora hit a record 4 billion dollars in 2023, with a majority of the money coming from the United States. Presidential campaigns in Kenya, especially those not enjoying incumbency, have a diaspora outreach unit as part of their campaign toolkit. They are a source of both campaign funds and the influence they wield back in Kenya – in their villages and towns.
In 2020 as the pandemic got started, over 3 million Kenyans lived in the diaspora, according to the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency. The United States accounts for the largest single bloc of them at close to 157,000 (5%) – which many believe to be an undercount – and Minnesota is one of the largest states with Kenyans at close to 20,000.
Besides Matiang’i, two other candidates have also emerged seeking to challenge President Ruto. One of them is his former deputy, Mr. Rigathi Gachagua, whom the president engineered a successful impeachment against in parliament. The other is the country’s former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka. The vice president title was changed to deputy president in a new constitution promulgated in 2010.
Of the three, its Gachagua and Matiang’i that to date, have demonstrated robust diaspora campaign outreach efforts. Both are currently traversing the United States visiting with the diaspora in states with large numbers of Kenyans.
Constitutionally, Gachagua is barred from holding public office following his impeachment, but he has petitioned the courts for it to be overturned. In the meantime he launched a new political party in May (Democratic for Citizens Party – DCP) and has become a major critic of the Ruto regime, to the delight of many Kenyans.
Earlier this month Gachagua launched a party branch office in Seattle. Under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), it’s a requirement for any foreign political party to register its presence – in practice this is done by requiring those acting as “agents of foreign principals” to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their relationships and activities. As of the time of this writing, a search for DCP, or those acting on its behalf did not appear to have registered yet with the Justice Department.
Matiang’i has yet to declare his party, but Makori said once that happens, he expects a chapter to be set up in Minnesota.
“What would probably happen first is for those of us here in the U.S. a national secretariat for the party will be set up and then we will have state chapters like here in Minnesota, when possible,” said Makori.
An earlier version of this story did not have the apostrophe in Okeng’o. We regret the error.
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About Tom Gitaa Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.
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