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Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The recent changes in Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition have triggered a major political clash, dragging former President Uhuru Kenyatta into a battle ring with the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
ODM on Thursday described the changes made following a meeting chaired by Mr Kenyatta as irregular and an attempt to exercise non-existent powers in total violation of the coalition’s agreement.
The party, through its Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen, in a letter to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP), said Mr Kenyatta has no powers to appoint or fire any of the coalition officials, unless through a properly constituted council meeting attended by major coalition partners.
Mr Ong’wen said ODM, which is a major constituent outfit in the coalition, was not informed of the meeting that installed Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka as the new Party Leader of the coalition.
Dr Oduor Ong’wen, a member of the People’s assembly organising committee, who said Monday that plans for NPC remain on course but discounted claims the event had been set for February 28. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Mr Musyoka replaced the late former Prime Minister, while Suba South MP Caroli Omondi was named the new Secretary General, replacing National Assembly Minority Leader and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.
In the changes, Mr Raphael Tuju was also replaced by former Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia as the coalition’s Executive Director.
The party has since asked the Registrar of Political Parties to suspend the changes pending strict compliance with the coalition agreement.
“A plain and literal reading of Article 6(A)(1) of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Deed of Agreement leaves no ambiguity as to how the membership of the Coalition Council is constituted and the manner in which appointments or removals are to be effected.”
The Article provides that the ‘Coalition Council shall comprise eleven (11) members and the Secretary General of the party, representing the Secretariat, appointed by the Party Leaders of the Coalition constituent parties.’
It further provides that the ‘Chairperson, Party Leader, Deputy Party Leader and members of the Coalition Council shall, at the execution of this Deed of Agreement, subject to Article 23, be agreed upon by the Party Leaders of the Jubilee Party, the Orange Democratic Movement, the Wiper Democratic Movement and the authorised representative(s) of the Mwanzo Mpуа caucus.’
In the letter dated February 5, 2026, Mr Ong’wen said the import of the provision is that the appointment and removal of members of the Coalition Council, including the Secretary General, is a collective preserve of the Party Leaders of the Coalition's constituent parties, namely the Jubilee Party, ODM, Wiper and the authorized representative of the Mwanzo Mpya Caucus.
“The power to appoint or remove is therefore neither unilateral nor vested in a single Party Leader, a clique of leaders, nor the Coalition Council acting independently.”
“In the circumstances, we formally request your office to suspend and freeze any action arising from the said meeting pending strict compliance with the Deed of Agreement and the applicable legal framework.”
Daily Nation has since learnt that the meeting held at the SKM Command Centre on Monday was chaired by Mr Kenyatta virtually. Mr Musyoka, Mr Tuju, Mr Omondi, Mr Kisia, Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe, Narc party leader Charity Ngilu and Jubilee Secretary General Moitalel Ole Kenta attended the meeting, while Kanu boss Gideon Moi was represented by Tony Gachoka.
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses mourners during the burial of JM Kariuki's third wife, Terry Kariuki, in Gitari, Gilgil, Nakuru County on November 11, 2025.
Mr Tuju told Daily Nation that he invited the council members at the instruction of Mr Kenyatta as the coalition’s chairman. He noted that he also filed the resolutions of the meeting with the ORPP as provided for by the coalition.
In a public notice released after the meeting, Azimio said the changes were driven by “evolving political circumstances” and aimed at revitalising the coalition, boosting internal cohesion, and strengthening its national posture.
But beyond the language of renewal, the reshuffle reflects a broader political recalibration that places Mr Kalonzo, a veteran opposition figure and former vice-president, at the centre of a coalition seeking to regain momentum after months of drift, defections and internal discord.
During the Jubilee Party’s recent delegates’ conference, he made it clear that his party would stay firmly within Azimio.
“We will work, and as Jubilee Party, we have made a decision to remain in Azimio and all that is left in it ahead of the 2027 elections,” Mr Kenyatta said.
