Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Board Chairperson Ndiritu Muriithi has been elected leader of the Kenya Reform Party (KRP), taking over the small party ahead of the 2027 General Election with a pledge built around industrialisation.
Muriithi was declared the new KRP leader on Monday, September 28, during the party’s National Delegates Conference, held at a Nairobi venue historically associated with the country’s second liberation movement. His nomination for the post went unopposed, and the party’s National Elections Board declared him duly elected on that basis.
“Hon Ndiritu Muriithi is the only nominated person for this position. Where only one candidate is nominated to an office at the close of the nominations, that candidate is declared duly elected,” the NEB Chair announced.
The former Laikipia Governor thanked delegates for electing him and used his acceptance speech to lay out KRP’s programme for the country, framing it around what he called seven pillars: a mass production economy, value addition of natural resources, industrialisation and manufacturing, industrial energy, agriculture as a source of industrial inputs, integrity and wealth, and protection of local industries.
Muriithi announced plans to build industrial parks in all 47 counties through a Sh150 billion market-led mass production fund, alongside production hubs at ward level across the country.
His focus on job creation and industrialisation echoes remarks he made earlier this year while considering a possible run for the Laikipia governorship, when he said the debate around 2027 slogans mattered less than practical solutions.
“The focus should be on solutions for Kenyans, job creation, and industrialisation,” he said at the time.
Muriithi has been linked to KRP for months. In June, party chairman Munene Kahiro said the party was actively courting him to fly its ticket, citing alignment with its ideals and describing KRP as firmly in the opposition.
Muriithi, who won the Laikipia governorship in 2017 as an independent candidate before losing the seat in 2022 amid his association with the Azimio coalition, has said he is interested in the Laikipia governor’s seat again in 2027, though he had not confirmed a final decision on which ticket he would run under before Monday’s takeover.
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He now potentially sets up a contest against Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, who supports President William Ruto from a different platform, in what is shaping into a closely watched race for the county.
KRP itself has a long institutional history under a different name. The party was first registered in 2016 as Diligence Development Alliance, before changing its name to Kenya Reform Party ahead of the 2022 election, when it joined the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
It has campaigned on a wealth-creation platform built around production, employment, technology, and the use of local natural resources, summarised in the slogan “Kuza Kazi, Kuza Viwanda, Linda Nchi.” Despite the substantive policy platform, the party has yet to secure parliamentary representation.
Muriithi continues to serve as KRA Board Chairperson, a position he has held since he was sworn in on December 30, 2024, succeeding Anthony Mwaura.
During his tenure at the tax authority, he has pushed for reforms including scrapping the practice of introducing new tax measures every year through the Finance Bill, arguing that predictable taxation would help businesses plan more effectively.
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