The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party has authorized its leader, President William Ruto, to begin formal coalition negotiations with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), signaling a potential political realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The decision was announced Wednesday following a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting chaired by President Ruto at the party headquarters in Nairobi.
In a communiqué issued after the meeting, the NEC acknowledged ODM’s recent decision to pursue structured negotiations with UDA and the broader Kenya Kwanza Coalition to formalize their ongoing political partnership.
“The NEC MANDATED the UDA Party Leader to establish mechanisms for structured engagement with the ODM party to achieve the desired outcome,” the statement read.
The meeting also reviewed the party’s recent grassroots elections conducted across 20 counties on January 10, 2026. According to briefings from the National Elections Board (NEB) and the Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee (ENDRC), the exercise saw significant participation.
“The grassroots elections attracted 492,439 candidates who contested for 231,770 seats in 17,953 Polling Centers,” the communiqué stated, adding that “a total of 2,400,000 party members from across the 20 counties participated in the exercise.”
The NEC noted that 56% of those elected were male while 44% were female, with youth comprising 33% of the successful candidates.
However, the committee directed the NEB to conduct repeat elections within 30 days in all polling centers where either election did not take place or there was no adequate participation of party members in the election.
The NEC highlighted several outcomes of the existing UDA-ODM political partnership, including the adoption of the 2024 National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) Report, which has been tabled in Parliament for implementation.
The partnership has also resulted in “the establishment of the broad-based administration which has incorporated members of the ODM party into various responsibilities in government,” according to the statement.
The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a 10-point agenda and established a bipartisan implementation committee.
Their cooperation bore fruit in the November 27, 2025 by-elections, where the statement noted the consensus for mutual and reciprocal support for UDA and ODM candidates respectively, which consensus resulted in the two parties winning all the Senate and National Assembly seats that were contested.
The NEC also approved the establishment of Ward Executive Committees comprising seven members to be elected by Ward Congresses.
The NEB was directed to organize ward-level party elections across the country within 30 days after the conclusion of repeat elections.
The Electoral and Nomination Dispute Resolution Committee was further directed to conclude the resolution of any disputes filed in accordance with party constitutional procedures.
The communiqué was issued by the United Democratic Alliance Party National Executive Committee and dated January 14, 2026.
