Musalia Mudavadi has been here, there, and done that…, what next?

Not long after folding his Amani National Congress (ANC) to merge it with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi sought to explain why he took that move.

In 2024, during a church service attended by Ruto in Kakamega County, Mudavadi stated:
“I did not want the President to be looking back behind his shoulder wondering what is happening there. We wanted the President to fully concentrate on his work and succeed without having to worry about those behind him “

Two years later, Mudavadi’s name and person remain among the most discussed subjects in the countdown to next year’s General-Election.

Mudavadi has practically held every Cabinet position in Kenya except that of Attorney-General.

He has also firmly declared his unwavering support for President Ruto’s re-election bid in 2027 while preparing for his own go five years later.

It is against that background that Mudavadi, who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, is attracting more than casual attention as the next election beckons.

He has ruled himself out of the raging debate on Ruto’s running-mate next year, stating that he has no interest in the position he has previously held.

Only National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, Co-operatives Minister Wycliffe Oparanya, Mining Minister Hassan Ali Joho and now Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru are still pursuing the Ruto running-mate path, seeking to replace former Tharaka-Nithi senator Prof. Abraham Kithure Kindiki, the current Deputy President.

Indeed, politically speaking Mudavadi has been here, there and done that.
The question still lurking in the air is: What next for the 65-year-old Land Economist?

With only 10 months before the next elections, Mudavadi has emerged as one of President Ruto’s most dependable, loyal and efficient lieutenants.

On occasions far more than once, Ruto has openly displayed his soft spot for the former long-serving Sabatia Member of Parliament.

Indeed, Mudavadi comes out as the most prominent and recognisable politician from the Western region in the Ruto regime

Even after Ruto early this year named Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka as the co-ordinator of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance 2027 re-election bid, Mudavadi together with Wetang’ula, Oparanya and Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary -general Francis Atwoli share the Herculean task of delivering the Western Kenya vote to the ruling party’s basket.

As the third highest ranking and most experienced Member of Ruto’s Cabinet, Mudavadi rates far above the rest of the relatively younger colleagues in the Executive.

He is now one of the key players who will have to be deployed in the trenches to ensure Ruto retains State House tenancy when polls come.

He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, Vice-President and as Finance Minister.

That a side, Mudavadi has in the past served as Transport and Communications, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Supplies and Marketing and Minister for Agriculture.

In June 2024, at the height of the so called Gen-Z protests against the Ruto regime, the President appointed Mudavadi as acting Cabinet Secretary for all the 21 ministries for a fortnight after he had sacked the rest of the Cabinet in response to public pressure.

That Mudavadi is at the centre-stage of Ruto’s re-election bid is not in doubt. He has a proven track record, with loyalty, respect and service delivery characterising his well-beaten trail.

On January 23, 2022, Mudavadi quit the Opposition One Kenya Alliance (OKA) to team up with Ruto in what has famously come to be known as The Earthquake, at the Bomas of Kenya.

Last year, Mudavadi folded his ANC party to merge with Ruto’s UDA.

Mudavadi’s hand, influence and experience will be put to great test as he, Lusaka, Atwoli and Wetangula devise ways of securing Ruto maximum votes in next year’s State House race.

In his more than three decades political career, Mudavadi has supported the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for Presidency twice, Uhuru once and Ruto twice (in addition to next year).

Since 2007, Western Kenya has largely voted for the presidential candidacy of the late Raila Odinga, a former Prime Minister who until his death in October last year was the Party Leader of the Opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

With Raila’s departure from Kenya’s political landscape, the ODM strongholds are up for grabs following endless succession feuds that have gripped the once political powerhouse.

Mudavadi, himself a close friend of the late Raila, has the unavoidable onus to help Ruto weave a neat avenue to guarantee the President sufficient support not only in Western Kenya but also in other ODM dominated areas in the country.

Both Ruto and Mudavadi are founder-members of the now wobbling ODM.

What is there for Mudavadi in all these?

That is the question that lingers as the clock ticks towards the 2027 elections.

He himself seems to have answered that question long ago.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Kiminini, Trans-Nzoia county, Mudavadi declared: “I am focussed on 2032. There is only one seat I have not occupied. That is where my eyes are. Not anything else.”