National Liberal Party (NLP) leader Dr Augustus Kyalo Muli has questioned the political motivation behind the construction of the Kyuso–Tseikuru–Kandua road, terming it a project driven more by elite political symbolism than the everyday needs of residents—while simultaneously laying the groundwork for his 2027 bid for the Kitui Central parliamentary seat.
Speaking at his Misuuni residence on Christmas eve while addressing thousands of supporters and locals during a community gift-sharing exercise, Dr Muli accused President William Ruto and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka of engaging in what he described as “politics of optics”—development projects rolled out to secure political loyalty rather than solve structural problems facing the region.“This road is being sold as development, yet its real value is political convenience.
Our people have suffered for decades, but relief only comes when political interests are threatened or ambitions are being shaped,” Muli said. He argued that while roads are important, they have been elevated into political trophies at the expense of more urgent challenges such as water scarcity, drought mitigation and food security—issues he said have been deliberately sidelined.
“Development is not about who a road leads to. It is about whether families have water, whether farmers can survive drought and whether households can put food on the table,” he added.
Makali Mulu Under Fire
In remarks that directly targeted the Kitui political establishment, Dr Muli accused Kitui Central MP Dr Makali Mulu of drifting into early succession politics at the expense of his parliamentary mandate, saying public service had been replaced by personal ambition.
“Leadership is not about preparing posters for the next seat. It is about delivering for the seat you already hold,” Muli said, in a thinly veiled reference to Dr Mulu’s widely speculated 2027 gubernatorial ambitions.
Kitui Central 2027: A Clear Signal Crucially,
Dr Muli used the forum to openly declare his intention to contest the Kitui Central MP seat in 2027 under the NLP ticket, casting himself as a people-first alternative to entrenched political networks.He said the NLP has rapidly grown into a national movement with over 350,000 registered members, drawing its strongest backing from Kitui County and the broader Lower Eastern region.
Third-Force Messaging
Muli positioned NLP as Kenya’s emerging “third force,” deliberately keeping distance from both the ruling administration and the opposition, which he accused of recycling the same leadership failures under different alliances.
“We are not boarding government bandwagons or opposition convoys. We are building a platform where wananchi speak and leaders listen,” he said.
As the battle for Kitui Central begins to take shape ahead of 2027, Dr Muli’s remarks signal an early but calculated entry into the race—one that seeks to tap into voter frustration with politically staged development and reframe the debate around accountability, equity and everyday survival.
