• Thirty years since its founding, Safina is once again positioning itself as Kenya’s political ark, this time, sailing toward economic freedom.

On September 18, 2025, the Safina Party returns to the national spotlight with its Special National Delegates Conference (NDC), a moment charged with symbolism, strategy, and a call to arms. Thirty years since its founding, Safina is once again positioning itself as Kenya’s political ark, this time, sailing toward economic freedom.

Safina Party Leader Jimi Wanjigi leader says that this is a chance to ignite the economic revolution that will transform Kenya forever. “For 60 years, we have had political independence but remained economically colonized,” he declared. “Our youth unemployed, our people struggling, while a few capture our national wealth.” 

Deputy Party Leader Willis Otieno has also echoed the urgency saying “This is the change Kenya needs. The leadership Kenya deserves.” He described the conference as the beginning of a new chapter—one that confronts debt slavery, youth exclusion, and economic injustice head-on.

Safina’s story began in May 1995, born out of frustration, reformist zeal, and a defiant desire to challenge the status quo. Its name Safina, Kiswahili for “Ark” symbolized a vessel to rescue Kenya from corruption, authoritarianism, and tribal politics.

Founded by Dr. Richard Leakey, the world-renowned palaeoanthropologist and conservationist, alongside Paul Muite, human rights lawyer, Safina was a bold experiment in civic nationalism. Its early ideology blended social liberalism, social democracy, and a deep commitment to constitutionalism. The slogan? “All Kenyans deserve a chance.”

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But the political climate was hostile. Kenya was still under the grip of President Daniel arap Moi and the KANU regime. Multiparty democracy was fresh, fragile, and fiercely resisted. Safina’s registration was delayed for over two years, and its leaders faced harassment and sabotage. Yet the party stood firm—becoming a symbol of the Second Liberation.

Three decades later, Willis Otieno says the struggle has evolved. “Today, the battle has shifted. Kenya is in chains not of bullets, but of debt slavery,” he warned. “In the 1990s, Safina stood firm against dictatorship and tyranny. That was the Second Liberation. Today, we march into the Third Liberation: Economic Freedom.”