President William Ruto and ODM party leader Oburu Odinga during a Sunday service at Nkarusha Seventh Day Adventist Church, Kajiado County on June 14, 2026.

📋 Breaking It Down

The uneasy truce between President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Oburu Oginga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is facing a fresh test as the two parties begin confronting the most difficult question in their broad-based government arrangement — who gets to contest where in 2027.

While Dr Ruto and Dr Oginga’s political partnership through their UDA and ODM parties has moved into a new phase, shifting from cooperation in government to the task of developing the joint manifesto that will form their policy blueprint, the formations continue to clash over the thorny political zoning of regions.

The show of cooperation at the top is increasingly masking competition on the ground, with both parties seeking to expand their political footprints while simultaneously negotiating a pre-election arrangement.

📌 What You Need to Know

President William Ruto, ODM Party Leader Oburu Oginga and members of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Central Management Committee and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Steering Committee during a joint consultative meeting at State House, Nairobi, on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

For Dr Oginga, the answer is zoning, and he emphasises that UDA should keep off traditional ODM strongholds and allow the party to defend its parliamentary and county seats.

For UDA, however, such an arrangement would undermine its ambition to build a national political machine ahead of the 2027 General Election and disenfranchise its members.

The disagreement is already playing out in counties where the two parties are supposed to be partners.

ODM has since made zoning one of the party’s key demands in negotiations with UDA. The party wants its traditional bases, particularly Nyanza, parts of Western and the Coast, protected from UDA candidates.

National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed has warned that ODM’s parliamentary strength is not negotiable, saying the party intends to retain all its current seats and win more in 2027.

📰 Source: Nation Africa