Prominent Kenyan government critic Boniface Mwangi announced Wednesday he would run for president in 2027, just weeks after the east African country’s latest deadly protests.The 42-year-old has fiercely denounced President William Ruto — who has faced wave after wave of rallies condemning his leadership since last year — and argues he was tortured in Tanzanian custody for his political activism.Mwangi urged Kenyans to “act now” to take Kenya “back into our hands” at a rally in the capital Nairobi, where youth-led demonstrations in 2024 sparked months of protests across the country, leaving more than 100 people dead.”Our country is broken and in danger of becoming a failed state,” Mwangi said at the rally, where supporters wore t-shirts bearing his likeness, waved the national flag and chanted his slogan “Upendo na ujasiri”, meaning “love and courage” in Swahili.”How did we end up electing people accused of crimes against humanity to lead our country?,” he asked, referring to an International Criminal Court case against Ruto for alleged involvement in post-election violence in 2007, which killed more than 1,100 people. The ICC eventually dropped the case due to a lack of evidence.”We cannot achieve change by working with people who have been part of the problem,” Mwangi said.Rights groups have condemned police brutality and criticised the government’s use of terrorism charges against protesters taking part in anti-government rallies. Mwangi himself faced terrorism charges over his connection to the recent protests, according to the police, but the charges were never formally submitted to court.- ‘Broke, hungry’ -Mwangi was also detained in May in neighbouring Tanzania, where he was attending the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.He told the crowd: “A few months ago I was stripped naked, shamed, humiliated, because my government conspired with the Tanzanians.”Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire have said previously that they were tortured and sexually abused while in the custody of Tanzanian police before being returned to their respective countries.In July, the pair brought a case against the three governments to the East African Court of Justice.Ruto has also faced criticism over the state of the economy, with rising costs of living, a young population who struggle to find work, and long-standing allegations of entrenched political corruption.”As a country, we’re broke, we’re hungry, and insecure,” said Mwangi, arguing the economy was wrecked because the money “is stolen every day”.”We must create a Kenya that works for all of us and not some of us,” he said.Political analyst Javas Bigambo said Mwangi’s bid was not unsurprising given how well-known in Kenya he was, and his unsuccessful candidacy for MP in 2017.However, he said Mwangi had limited experience beyond activism.”He will not be taken seriously as a presidential candidate,” he told AFP, noting: “You cannot run a presidential campaign on civil society sympathy.”
