Kihika Warns Against Turning 2027 Politics Into Ethnic Contest

By Suleiman Mbatiah

Governor Susan Kihika has urged Kenyan political leaders to keep competition ahead of the 2027 General Election focused on policy and development, not ethnicity, warning against turning the vote into a contest of hatred.

Kihika said politicians should be judged on their records and policies, not on ethnic identity.

Speaking during International Day of Peace celebrations at Nyayo Gardens in Nakuru City, she said Kenya must confront tribalism before it turns into the kind of violence that has marked political contests in the past.

She warned that ethnic hostility does not start with physical confrontation. It can begin with political rhetoric that casts members of another community as enemies.

“Tribalism does not begin with a stone. It begins with a word. It begins when a politician tells a young Kenyan that another Kenyan is their enemy,” Kihika said.

She said political leaders have a duty to ensure their campaigns do not use community identity as a political tool.

Electoral competition, she said, should allow Kenyans to disagree on policy and leadership without treating people on the other side as enemies because of their ethnicity.

Kihika said that duty becomes even more important as political activity picks up ahead of the 2027 election, when candidates and their supporters will be seeking votes across the country.

She urged voters and leaders to focus on what candidates have done, what they want to do, and how they treat communities other than their own.

“As we approach the 2027 General Election, we must refuse to allow political competition to become a competition in hatred. Let us debate policies. Let us debate development. Let us challenge leaders on their record,” Kihika said.

She also called on institutions responsible for national cohesion to act before inflammatory rhetoric turns into wider community tension.

Kihika singled out the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, urging it to take action against people who repeatedly spread hate or try to incite communities against each other.

She said authorities should step in early when political rhetoric crosses into incitement, through investigations and enforcement of the law.

“Do not wait for violence before you act. When individuals repeatedly spread hate, incite communities or use ethnicity to provoke Kenyans against one another, investigate. Enforce the law. Engage communities,” Kihika said.

She added that enforcement should not depend on a person’s political standing, ethnicity or popularity.

The governor said accountability must apply equally to political leaders and other influential figures, especially during an election period when political messaging can shape public attitudes toward other communities.

She said political office should not be used to deepen divisions or to present ethnic mobilization as normal politics.

Instead, she said, protecting national cohesion requires recognizing that every community has an equal stake in the country.

“But accountability must also be fair. It must apply regardless of the speaker’s tribe, political party, office or popularity. No Kenyan should be above the responsibility to protect our national fabric,” Kihika said.

Nakuru’s diversity was central to her argument against turning ethnicity into a basis for exclusion.

Kihika described the county as “Kenya in miniature,” saying its more than 2.1 million residents live across 11 sub-counties and 55 wards. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission classifies Nakuru among Kenya’s cosmopolitan counties.

She said that diversity shows Kenyans from different communities can live, work and compete alongside one another despite differences in language, religion, ethnicity and political affiliation.

The task now, she said, is to make sure those differences do not become a source of political hostility as the country heads toward another General Election.

She urged citizens preparing to vote in 2027 to pay attention to the conduct and language of political leaders, including how they treat communities different from their own.

Political disagreement, she said, is part of democracy, but it should not be allowed to slide into dehumanisation or hostility toward any community.

“The ballot must never become a license for hatred. Political competition must never become ethnic warfare. And disagreement must never become dehumanization,” Kihika said.

For Nakuru, she said, the goal is not to erase differences between communities but to build a county where residents can keep their identities and still feel they belong.

Kihika said peaceful coexistence depends on Kenyans seeing one another first as fellow citizens, not mainly through ethnic identity.

“My dream for Nakuru is not a county where everyone looks alike. My dream is a county where everyone feels at home,” Kihika said.

Her remarks come as political activity starts to build ahead of the 2027 General Election, with her message focused on keeping competition centered on policy, development and leadership records.

She also urged Kenyans preparing for the election to judge political leaders by what they say and do, how they treat other communities, and whether their politics brings people together or pushes them apart.