Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has denied being a project of former President Uhuru Kenyatta in his 2027 presidential bid.
Speaking during an interview on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Matiang’i stated that it was inconceivable for anyone to think that he was Uhuru’s project just because he worked with him for 10 years.
“There are many things that are bandied around. There are things that people tell you that, when you sit and analyse them, they wouldn’t make sense even to a fool. What does it mean to be someone’s project?” Matiang’i posed.
Served for 10 years
“It is an intellible historical fact that Uhuru Kenyatta appointed me to his cabinet, and I served for 10 years in three significant portfolios, and he gave me additional responsibilities and so on,” he stated.
“But for the 10 years that Uhuru was president, he appointed 30 or so people to his cabinet. So, am I a project by dint of the fact that I served in Uhuru’s cabinet, and if it is a question of service and so on, why are you not asking me if I am the World Bank’s project because I have just come from the World Bank?”
Matiang’i equally revealed that the former president had not asked him to vie for president or stay out, but that they have been having discussions on the issues affecting the country.
“I have not asked him (Uhuru) on whether or not I should run, but we discuss Kenyan affairs every time we have an opportunity, like I discuss with thousands of other Kenyans whenever I have an opportunity,” Matiang’i noted.
Significant portfolios
Uhuru, who is the Jubilee Party leader, appointed Matiang’i to the ICT ministry, the Education Ministry and later on the Interior and National Government Administration Ministry in 2027, where he served until the end of his term in 2022.
Notably, the Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni in January 2025 declared Matiang’i as the party’s preferred presidential candidate for the upcoming 2027 general elections.
While Matiang’i says he has yet to choose a political party, he is in talks with various opposition politicians to form a coalition against Ruto in 2027.
