Kenyan human rights campaigner Boniface Mwangi, a prominent figure in youth-led anti-government protests, said on Wednesday he will run for president in the August 2027 election, aiming to convert street momentum into an electoral movement.
Mwangi, who ran unsuccessfully for parliament in 2017 on an anti-corruption platform, has built a reputation for outspoken advocacy in Kenya and abroad. “Our leadership has failed us in numerous ways. You pay taxes expecting service, or you’re supposed to pay bribes to get that same service,” he said at his launch event. “Our country must be taken back into our hands.”
He was expelled from Tanzania in May after attending a hearing in an opposition treason case, and in July he pleaded not guilty in a Nairobi court to charges of possessing tear-gas canisters and a single rifle round found at his home, calling the prosecution “a big shame.”
Candidates must be cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Others who have declared include Senator Okiya Omtatah and former Chief Justice David Maraga. Incumbent President William Ruto says he will seek re-election, while an opposition bloc led by former senior officials plans to field a joint candidate.