Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) is resisting calls to join the Ukombozi coalition, arguing that it would rather build its own political base before negotiating with other opposition parties.
The stance puts DCP at odds with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, the coalition’s convener.
Ukombozi Alliance was unveiled on September 21, 2026, as an offshoot of the 2022 Azimio coalition that former president Uhuru Kenyatta assembled in an unsuccessful bid to propel the late Raila Odinga to the presidency.
Mr Musyoka has said the coalition will seek to bring in more parties, including DCP.
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka (centre) addresses journalists, flanked by DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa (right), Siaya Governor James Orengo and Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi, among other leaders, at the SKM Command Centre in Nairobi on September 21, 2026. Kalonzo announced the rebranding of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition to Ukombozi Alliance.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
But DCP appears unwilling to enter the alliance amid a growing contest over who controls the Mt Kenya political constituency and who should have the strongest voice in shaping the opposition’s 2027 strategy.
A senior Gachagua loyalist told the Nation that Mr Kenyatta should no longer seek a central role in the opposition’s political affairs.
“Mr Kenyatta should simply vacate the political discourse and go home… The only offer from him we can accept is his money. He can keep whatever else he believes he can offer to himself,” the official said.
Mr Kenyatta said on September 22 that Dr Jubilee leader Fred Matiang’i’s proposed role in Ukombozi was only a proposal and that he would represent Jubilee at the coalition’s bargaining table.
But rather than immediately joining Ukombozi, DCP is positioning itself as an independent force that will negotiate with other parties from a position of strength.
The party’s public statements suggest that it wants to distinguish between parties it considers to have significant electoral constituencies and those it regards as having little political weight.
DCP Council of Eminent Persons Chairman Maina Kamanda said the party believes it can mobilise more than eight million votes and that joining a coalition would therefore require careful consideration of what other parties bring to the table.
“Mr Gachagua has mobilised majority of Mt Kenya voters under DCP. He has reached out to the Maa and Kipsigis communities. He is a national movement on his own. Telling us to join a coalition will demand first we scrutinise,” he said.
Mr Kamanda said DCP currently regards Mr Gachagua, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, former Cabinet minister Eugene Wamalwa and Mr Musyoka as the opposition figures with significant political influence.
“DCP only rates Gachagua, Edwin Sifuna, Eugene Wamalwa and Kalonzo Musyoka as the only impactful principals. We will not pretend for long or hide from that fact forever,” he said.
The position has also been echoed in recent weeks by Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata, Kajiado North MP Onesmus Ngogoyo, Naivasha MP Jane Kihara and Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji.
Former Jubilee Party National Executive Council member Pauline Njoroge has similarly argued that the opposition needs a smaller group of principals with demonstrable political influence.
“This opposition does not need an endless table of principals… it needs a lean, credible centre. All constituent parties sit in a Coalition Parties Council like how it works in the United Nations General Assembly everyone participates, a few who sit in the Security Council gives legitimacy,” she said.
Ms Njoroge said membership of the principal group should not be based simply on owning a political party but on demonstrable national influence and regional support.
Those who command significant political constituencies, she said, should be the ones negotiating on behalf of their supporters.
People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua (centre) leading United Alternative Government and Linda Mwananchi members in addressing journalists at Hermosa Hotel in Nairobi on August 19, 2026.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation
Mr Kamanda said DCP was unwilling to invest heavily in building its political base only to hand the gains to parties that had done less work.
“There are those who are calling themselves opposition principals yet have been in political contests for long without even winning a ward seat. It has reached a point where we get into serious business of strategising from the platform of expected impact,” he said.
DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala has been even more explicit about the party’s preferred arrangement.
He said DCP would not join Ukombozi but could work with Mr Sifuna before negotiating an agreement with the coalition.
Mr Malala said DCP believed it could negotiate a joint presidential candidature without necessarily becoming part of another coalition.
“The DCP plus Sifuna equals an independent force. Ukombozi is another force. Those two forces can only negotiate on how to approach the 2027 General Election as independent entities,” he said on September 22 at the DCP headquarters in Lavington.
Mr Gachagua had made a similar argument during his ongoing tour of the United States, where he ruled out immediate coalition talks and said the party’s priority was consolidating its grassroots support.
“We are focused on consolidation, not negotiations. No political party can negotiate from a position of weakness. We will only consider alliances after we have fully consolidated our support base. This is not time for closing ranks. I advise other political parties in the opposition to strengthen themselves first, mobilise their support bases and aspire to get believable, bankable and impactful numbers to table on the table,” he said on September 19.
“I would be very afraid if politics was not a game of numbers. Removing a sitting president is not a walk in the park. It is not an easy task. Removing him will be a game of numbers… If you have no numbers, it will be zero work,” he said.
He maintained that he remains DCP’s presidential candidate but is open to supporting another candidate if the opposition reaches consensus.
“We have made public commitment that we are for one presidential candidate from the opposition. I personally agree on that. But in the meantime DCP is an independent party with its programmes and goals,” he said.
Embakasi North MP James Gakuya said DCP could not simply join a coalition in which it had not participated in its formation.
“Azimio or Ukombozi have their owners. We were not party to their formation. We cannot enter into a feast where we do not even have a knife to cut our share of meat… DCP is independent. Period. We can also be approached to admit others, not we joining them,” he said.
DCP has also been using the July 17 Ol Kalou by-election to reinforce its argument that it has enough political weight to negotiate from its own platform.
“We were in Ol Kalou by-election on July 17, 2026 and we were all agreed that the results would serve to give us direction on who has the numbers. The DCP got 85 percent of the vote. Some of those calling us into Ukombozi had fielded candidates who were heavily rejected. The DCP is on another level,” he said.
Jubilee, associated with Mr Kenyatta, fielded a candidate who garnered 198 votes.
Mr Kamanda said Mr Gachagua has also been conducting extensive opinion polling to establish the party’s support base.
“It is up to those others to go out there and mobilise their bases into a solid formation… persuade voters and make them your loyal base. Seek their permission to negotiate on their behalf. Ask them where they want you to lead them. Our supporters have told us that they want us independent and only available to those who add value to us,” he said.
DCP’s resistance to Ukombozi points to a deeper contest within the opposition over political identity, regional influence and the structure of any eventual alliance ahead of the 2027 election.
Mr Gachagua and Mr Kenyatta are competing for influence in Mt Kenya, while DCP is also seeking to expand its reach beyond the region.
The disagreement is therefore not simply about whether DCP should join Ukombozi. It is also about who gets to negotiate for the opposition, which leaders qualify as principals and how political strength should be measured.
DCP Secretary-General designate John Methu said the party considers every other political party a competitor and does not intend to become a subordinate partner in a larger opposition arrangement.
“None should expect DCP and Mr Gachagua to market them the same way we do not expect any to market us. The only concurrence under the united opposition should be the search for a joint presidential candidate which does not need us to enter into group fellowship. We can adopt the joint candidate and campaign for him or her while remaining as DCP,” he said.
Mr Methu rejected suggestions that the strategy was about selfishness or a refusal to unite the opposition.
“Every party especially in Mt Kenya and their leaderships should mobilise for support and take their numbers to coalitions of their choice. It is not necessarily that DCP be their partner. They should feel free to be independent. DCP is not willing to be anyone’s worker in the united Opposition. If you believe you have your loyal numbers, take them where you want,” he said.
