Fred Matiang'i assembles machinery for 2027 State House race
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i.
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has laid the ground to run for the country’s top seat in 2027.
The man who was considered the “super CS” during the reign of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has recruited a globally recognised firm to lobby for his prospects as the sixth President of Kenya.
The Canadian-based Dickens and Madson will be paid Sh32.5 million to lobby the executive and/or legislative branches of the governments of powerful nations including the US, UK, Japan, Kenya and any other mutually agreed upon country or countries, and international organisations on Mr Matiang’i’s behalf.
“The firm will also provide other services to assist in devising and executing policies for the beneficial development and stability of your political goals and to assist you in attaining the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya,” said part of an agreement signed on 13 July 2024, and seen by The Africa Report.
Low profile
Dr Matiang’i who has kept a low profile since his exit in office in 2022 is hoping to ride on his performance when he also served in the ministries of ICT and Education and delivered impressive results.
Despite resistance, he presided over the ambitious migration from analogue to digital TV broadcasting while in the ICT docket as we as praised for introducing measures to curb rampant exam cheating between 2015 and 2018 during his stint at the Ministry of Education.
His interest in the presidency could excite a section of youthful protesters who used their social media platforms to express their support during the recent anti-government protests.
However, at the local level, Dr Matiang’i will have to create a strategy for dealing with the formidable alliance between President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga joined forces in the bitterly contested 2022 presidential election that saw Azimio reject the results.
In his quest to bring all Kenyans together, President Ruto dissolved his entire Cabinet and brought on board some of Mr Odinga’s close allies to the Cabinet.
While Matiang’i is hoping to gain international recognition through the Montreal-based firm, its past records could either boost or jeopardise his bid.
Dickens and Madson has caused some controversies in the past. In 2021, it was forced to drop a $2m contract with Myanmar’s junta to defend the 1 February military coup in the southeast Asian country, after failing to secure approval from US and Canadian authorities.
$6 million deal
Two years earlier, the firm signed a $6 million deal to seek government funds and diplomatic recognition for Sudanese General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, whose forces have been accused of massacring protesters in Khartoum. The deal, reported by The Globe and Mail, includes “striving to obtain funding and equipment for the Sudanese military”.
The lobbying also sought “to assist the devising and execution of policies for the beneficial development of Hemeti’s political aims”.
Now the head of the Rapid Support Forces, an independent military force waging Sudan’s later war against the Sudanese Armed Forces, Hemedti has been accused by Human Rights Watch of committing grave crimes against civilians in Darfur and other parts of Sudan.
