A Brand New Son Has Arrived”: Pauline Njoroge Gives Edwin Sifuna a New Name After His Mt Kenya Visit

Following Sifuna’s appearance in Kirinyaga on Saturday, Njoroge jokingly introduced him to the region as a “brand new son”, triggering fresh political chatter around the senator’s growing national profile ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Sifuna was in Kirinyaga for the burial of Mwalimu Jackson Karua, the father of People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua. The funeral at Mugumo Primary School in Gichugu brought together an unusually powerful collection of opposition figures, including former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Jubilee leader Fred Matiang’i and Siaya Governor James Orengo.

During the ceremony, Sifuna addressed mourners and spoke about the opposition’s political direction, including the question of who should eventually carry the opposition presidential ticket in 2027.

But it was Njoroge’s playful reaction that added a lighter—and potentially more politically loaded—dimension to the visit.

Sharing a photograph of Sifuna alongside former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Njoroge wrote in Kikuyu:

“Gùkù kìrìma andù maraiga nìmonete a brand new kamwana, wìtagwo Edwin Sifuna.”

The message was interpreted as saying that people from the Mountain had seen a “brand new son” called Edwin Sifuna.

On the surface, it was humour.

But politics rarely allows such humour to remain merely humour.

Sifuna’s presence in Mt Kenya comes as opposition politicians intensify efforts to build a broad political coalition ahead of 2027. His political activities have increasingly moved beyond Nairobi, with his allies seeking to position their emerging movement as a national rather than regional project.

The senator has also repeatedly called for opposition leaders to put aside individual ambitions and agree on a common strategy for the next election.

That message has placed him in increasingly interesting political company.

Recent political gatherings involving Sifuna have brought together figures associated with different opposition formations, including Kalonzo Musyoka’s allies and politicians linked to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s political sphere. The wider Linda Mwananchi initiative has also been seeking to expand its footprint beyond its original political base.

Njoroge herself has been part of the political conversations surrounding Sifuna and his allies.

In September, she predicted that whatever political vehicle Sifuna eventually unveiled would attract considerable national attention, saying the party would become one of the country's most talked-about political formations.

Her latest description of Sifuna as a “brand new son” therefore lands in a much bigger political conversation.

For a politician trying to build a national coalition, Mt Kenya is not simply another stop on the political map.

It is one of the most consequential electoral blocs in the country.

And the symbolism of being publicly welcomed there—especially in the presence of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and other opposition heavyweights—could prove more significant than the joke itself.

The question now is whether Sifuna's “sonship” in the Mountain remains a social-media punchline or evolves into something more politically consequential.

For now, Njoroge has given the Nairobi senator a new political nickname.

Edwin Sifuna, the “brand new son” of Mt Kenya.