Freedom and Opportunity Party (FOP) leader Onyango Oloo has confirmed that he will contest the presidency in the 2027 General Election.
Oloo says he will offer Kenyans an alternative leadership agenda focused on social justice, accountability and good governance.
The party leader said he had fulfilled the requirements for the registration of FOP and was awaiting the final certificate from the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
He said the party had met the required membership threshold across at least 24 counties and established offices in 27 counties.
“I have reiterated this repeatedly: I am going to run for the office of President of the Republic of Kenya under the Freedom and Opportunity Party,” Oloo said during a press conference.
He maintained that his name would appear on the presidential ballot regardless of any challenges facing the registration of FOP.
“Onyango Oloo will be on the ballot one way or another. If they block FOP, we will come through other parties. If they block us from getting into other parties, they will still find my name on the ballot,” he said.
Oloo said his presidential bid would go beyond the push to deny President William Ruto a second term, arguing that Kenyans must also consider the kind of leadership that would take over after the 2027 elections.
“We are saying one term, and President Ruto does not deserve a second term. But after the one term, what next?” he posed.
He added:
“Suppose we get worse leadership than we have today? It is important that we offer Kenyans a buffet of leadership so that they are able to choose.”
Oloo said removing Ruto from office was only one component of the opposition’s political agenda and should not overshadow the need to build a government committed to good governance.
“Removing President Ruto is a key component of the political agenda, but the ultimate objective is providing good governance to the people of this country,” he said.
“We must look at who will hold the reins and towards what end.”
The former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker also raised concerns over the county’s pending bills, which he said had become a major governance issue following Governor Peter Nyong’o’s appearance before the Senate.
Oloo questioned how Kisumu County had accumulated about Sh5.9 billion in pending bills and alleged that a significant proportion of the claims were fraudulent.
He claimed that up to 70 per cent of the pending bills were fake or had been incurred irregularly, although he did not provide documentary evidence to support the allegations.
“Kisumu is but a reflection of what is happening in county governments across the country,” Oloo said.
He said concerns over pending bills had emerged during his tenure as Speaker and that, in 2019, he issued a ruling requiring the county government to provide a detailed and comprehensive list of the claims.
The list, he said, was expected to indicate the projects involved, the contractors, the amounts owed and the stage of completion to enable the county assembly and members of the public to verify the claims.
Oloo alleged that his push for greater scrutiny of the pending bills contributed to his impeachment as Speaker.
He claimed that some county assembly members and county officials were involved in arrangements that had weakened the assemblies’ oversight role.
The FOP leader called for investigations into the beneficial ownership of companies doing business with county governments to establish whether public officials or their associates were secretly benefiting from county contracts.
“Members of county assemblies who are doing business with counties cannot take cover under the fact that they are trading through companies in which they are not registered officials,” he said.
Oloo proposed the enactment of a Social Audit Act that would allow members of the public to monitor government-funded projects and question payments made for projects that were incomplete, exaggerated or non-existent.
He said residents should be allowed to provide information on the actual status of projects before contractors were paid.
“People should be able to say that a contract being presented for payment has not reached the level claimed or that a project does not exist in the area where it is said to have been undertaken,” he said.
Oloo also criticised the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), accusing the agency of failing to act on corruption complaints involving county governments.
He called for a review of the commission’s operations and warned that FOP could push for its disbandment if it failed to account for its performance and use of resources.
“If institutions responsible for governance and fighting corruption are captured or fail to perform their duties, Kenyans must demand accountability and reforms,” he said.
Oloo said his party would prioritise strengthening devolution and ensure that public officials were held accountable for how public resources were used.
He said accountability should extend to all county administrations since the introduction of devolution and that leaders should not be allowed to evade scrutiny by asking Kenyans to disregard past wrongdoing.
“There should be no blanket call to forget the past. What happened in the past has contributed to where we are today,” he said.
