Immediate Former United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi has returned to Kenya saying he is ready to be president come 2022.

Mukhisa made the announcement on Sunday when he attended a thanksgiving service at the Makadara Friends church in Eastlands, Nairobi on returning to the country.

Kituyi said he would soon announce the political party on which he intends to vie in a bid to replace President Uhuru Kenyatta next year then market his candidature across the country.

"I want to learn and to be part of a conversation about how we can save our politics from the rising tensions; so early in the day," Dr Kituyi said.

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UNCTAD announced that Kituyi, 65, will officially step down from the senior role on February 15 after being appointed to the position on September 1, 2013, a term that was renewed in 2017.

Dr Kituyi said his key priority if elected president would be to revive the ailing Kenyan economy saying his experience while heading UNCTAD will come in handy in leading the country.

However, the former Kimilili MP received a low welcome on landing back in Kenya and driving while greeting residents from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Eastlands.


Dr Kituyi, who was UNCTAD’s seventh Secretary-General, was elected Kimilili Member of Parliament in 1992 and was re-elected twice and served as Trade and Industry Minister from 2002 to 2007.

Before UNCTAD, Dr Kituyi was the CEO of the Kenya Institute of Governance and a Fellow of the Brookings Institution and was among experts advising presidents of East African Community between 2008 and 2012.

He was also a consultant for the African Union Commission (2011 – 2012) and helped to develop a pan-African charter and roadmap for a comprehensive free trade area.

Dr Kituyi studied political science and international relations at the University of Nairobi and at Makerere University in Uganda and received a BA in 1982.

He also holds a Master of Philosophy and a PhD from the University of Bergen, Norway.