Nelson Havi will abandon the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and seek an opposition party nomination for the Westlands parliamentary seat in 2027.
The former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president confirmed he discussed his exit with President William Ruto and would pursue a ticket from a party within the United Opposition coalition, which includes the Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K), Wiper Democratic Movement, People’s Liberation Party and Jubilee Party. He mentioned DAP-K as a possibility.
“UDA was the available vehicle when I first ran in 2022. The receptability of UDA as a vehicle in Nairobi and Westlands is doubtful,” Havi said.
The move underscores UDA’s struggle to penetrate Nairobi, where the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) won eight of 17 parliamentary seats in 2022 compared to UDA’s four. Westlands, which houses both affluent estates like Runda and Kitisuru and slums like Kangemi, has remained an ODM stronghold with 160,739 registered voters.
Havi finished second in the 2022 race with 19,500 votes against ODM’s Tim Wanyonyi’s 58,400, losing all five wards in the constituency. Wanyonyi, a three-term MP first elected in 2013, has announced plans to contest the Bungoma governorship in 2027, leaving the Westlands seat open.
Havi, who chairs the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) until February, is positioning himself as an overseer ready to challenge executive excesses. He vowed to focus on legislation creating youth employment through vocational training and partnerships with multinational companies based in Westlands.
“We don’t need the entire 290 elected members of the National Assembly to be vocal in oversight. Just a few. I believe I have the capacity, bearing in mind what I’ve done before, to do this,” he said.
He cited his role in challenging government Covid-19 containment measures and leading the legal fight against the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in March 2022. As LSK president, Havi was among the lawyers who successfully argued that President Uhuru Kenyatta had acted beyond his constitutional powers in initiating the BBI process.
On corruption, Havi pledged to be a watchdog and outlined plans to amend laws governing the judiciary to introduce default mechanisms against judges who delay cases.
Addressing concerns about his confrontational social media persona, which led to an Advocates Disciplinary Tribunal finding him guilty of professional misconduct in 2025 for posting statements against his predecessor Allen Gichuhi, Havi was unapologetic. He is challenging the conviction in the High Court.
“Let those judges who are incompetent and corrupt, let those advocates who are incompetent and corrupt fear. And they must fear because I will not stop,” he said.
Havi connected rising crime and the cost of living in Westlands to policy failures and poor oversight.
He argued that empowering youth economically would reduce crime and criticised MPs for rubber-stamping finance bills without scrutiny.
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