Kalonzo: Raila was sworn in by Miguna Miguna week before event at Uhuru Park
Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka has said that Raila Odinga was privately sworn in as the people’s president by Miguna Miguna at least a week before the public ceremony at Uhuru Park.
Speaking to Iko Nini Podcast on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Kalonzo said the earlier oath was arranged as a backup because opposition leaders feared they might be blocked from accessing the grounds on the day of the main event.
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Kalonzo explained that at the time, the opposition feared government security agencies would frustrate their plans by sealing off Uhuru Park to prevent the National Super Alliance (NASA) from holding the controversial swearing-in.
He revealed that they arranged a discreet ceremony where Raila would take the oath in advance. This, he said, guaranteed that even if the Uhuru Park gathering was blocked, Raila’s symbolic assumption of office as the people’s president would already have taken place.
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Kalonzo also suggested that these events may explain some of the tensions that followed between Raila and Miguna Miguna, who had served him as his senior adviser between 2009 and 2011.
“Miguna Miguna had already sworn in one week before Uhuru Park, sijui kwa nyumba ya Miguna Miguna, sijui wapi. We already knew we won’t be allowed at Uhuru Park. So we planned that he gets sworn in so that if we are not allowed at Uhuru Park, he will show how he was sworn in. Pengine ndo maana Miguna is feeling betrayed and talking the way he does,” Kalonzo stated.
Raila’s swearing in
The more widely known swearing-in took place on January 30, 2018, at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, where Miguna Miguna administered the oath before tens of thousands of supporters.
The ceremony was meant to symbolise opposition to the 2017 repeat presidential election, which Raila Odinga had boycotted, claiming it was not free or fair.
The background to the events was the disputed 2017 election. The August vote was annulled by the Supreme Court, which cited irregularities, and a repeat poll was held in October. Raila withdrew from the rerun, arguing that the electoral commission had not been reformed, while President Uhuru Kenyatta went on to win almost unopposed.
The result left the country deeply divided, with opposition supporters demanding justice.
The January 30 swearing-in provoked a heavy government response. Television stations were shut down to prevent live coverage, and officials warned that the act amounted to treason. Security forces targeted opposition leaders, and Miguna Miguna was arrested and later deported. Rights groups and international observers criticised the crackdown, calling it an attack on freedoms of expression and assembly.
