Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping personally told him he would visit Kenya only after Kalonzo assumes the presidency.
Speaking on television during NTV’s Fixing the Nation, the former Vice President referenced a past bilateral meeting with Xi to argue that his long-standing diplomatic relationship with the Chinese leader positions him to renegotiate Kenya’s mounting national debt if elected president in 2027.
“Talk to President Xi Jinping. When I was Vice President, I met up with him. And he actually said, ‘The only time I come to Kenya is when you are the president,'”
Musyoka pointed to President Xi’s previous state visit to neighboring Tanzania—which omitted a stopover in Nairobi—as evidence supporting his account. “When he came to Tanzania and didn’t come to Kenya, this man seems to be serious,” Kalonzo said.
Musyoka linked his relationship with Beijing to his broader platform for managing Kenya’s debt obligations:
Under a Wiper-led administration, Kenya would initiate direct bilateral negotiations with major creditors, including China and the United States, to restructure loans. He pledged to scrutinize how previous foreign debts were contracted, claiming some obligations were negotiated without proper transparency.
Arguing that ordinary revenue collection remains far lower than total debt liabilities, Musyoka advocated restructuring terms to ease pressure on public finances.
The diplomatic ties between Musyoka and Xi date back to May 2012, when Musyoka, serving as Kenya’s Vice President, met Xi Jinping (then Vice President of China) in Beijing.
