ODM exits Azimio and reshuffles Nairobi assembly leadership as 2027 realignment accelerates

The Mt Kenya Times

Kenya Politics
12 November 2026

The Mt Kenya Times

The Orange Democratic Movement’s formal departure from the Azimio coalition closes one political chapter and opens another — with consequences that will shape Kenya’s pre-election landscape

By Lucy Nekesa

The Orange Democratic Movement formally exited the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party on 10 June 2026 and has since moved to restructure its leadership in the Nairobi City County Assembly, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed in letters dated 27 October 2026.

The confirmation, communicated by ODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen to Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Kenneth Ng’ondi, draws a formal line under a coalition that once represented the most ambitious attempt at opposition unity in Kenya’s post-2010 constitutional history. Its unravelling, and ODM’s methodical repositioning in its aftermath, tells a story not merely about one party’s internal decisions but about the broader restructuring of Kenya’s political architecture as the country moves towards the August 2027 general election.

The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties was unambiguous in its confirmation. “Pursuant to Section 10 of the Political Parties Act Cap. 7D, Article 22 of the Azimio coalition agreement, ODM has satisfied the requirements for exiting Azimio. In this regard, ODM ceased being a member of Azimio as of 10th June 2026.” The legal formality, long anticipated, was nonetheless significant. Coalitions in Kenyan politics carry both institutional weight and symbolic meaning, and the departure of Azimio’s strongest constituent party effectively renders the formation a diminished shell of what it was during the 2022 election cycle.

ODM’s decision to act was not sudden. ODM Party leader Oburu Oginga had signalled the direction of travel as early as February, speaking at a gathering in Mombasa ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting. His remarks were pointed and left little room for ambiguity. “This thing called Azimio — we are Azimio. The strongest party of Azimio is ODM. There is no one who can decide without consulting ODM. You cannot purport to appoint a new leader in Azimio while excluding ODM,” Oginga said. He then went further: “Azimio was dead when ODM left it. We left it a long time ago, and it is only a formality that we have not performed. We are going to exit that organisation called Azimio.” The June exit date confirmed that the formality had been performed.

With the legal departure settled, ODM moved swiftly to reconfigure its institutional presence in the Nairobi City County Assembly — a legislature whose political composition reflects, in miniature, the broader realignments playing out at the national level. The party appointed Catherine Apiyo Okoth, a nominated Member of the County Assembly, as its representative on the County Assembly Service Board, replacing the arrangement that had existed under the Azimio framework. The board appointment matters because it determines ODM’s direct influence over the assembly’s administrative and financial operations, not merely its legislative positioning.

The party also reorganised its Majority Party Whip structure. Upper Savanna MCA Stazo Omung’ala Elijah Ang’ila was appointed Majority Party Whip, replacing Moses Nyangaresi Ogeto, who has shifted his political allegiance. Imara Daima MCA Evans Okaru Nyangicha was simultaneously appointed Deputy Majority Party Whip, filling the position vacated by Ang’ila’s elevation. In its communication to the Speaker, ODM described the changes as designed to “strengthen the party’s leadership, coordination and discipline within the County Assembly while ensuring effective execution of its legislative and oversight responsibilities” — standard institutional language that nonetheless signals the party’s intent to maintain and consolidate its operational grip on the Nairobi assembly as political competition intensifies.

The timing is deliberate. County assemblies, often dismissed as peripheral to national political contests, are in practice significant organisational resources. The MCAs who serve in them are embedded in their wards, maintain direct relationships with voters and are critical foot soldiers during campaign season. A party that controls its County Assembly group effectively controls a mobilisation network. ODM’s restructuring in Nairobi, Kenya’s largest urban centre, is therefore as much about 2027 as it is about 2026 governance.

Nairobi itself occupies a particular place in Kenya’s political calculus. With the largest concentration of registered voters, a youthful demographic profile and a media environment that amplifies political developments nationally, the capital is simultaneously a prize and a battleground. ODM’s moves in the Nairobi assembly signal that the party intends to be a serious competitor for influence in the city, independent of whatever coalition arrangements ultimately take shape at the national level before the election.

The question of those coalition arrangements remains, as of now, unresolved. ODM’s exit from Azimio does not automatically position it within any other formal structure, and the party has been careful not to foreclose its options. The broader opposition landscape includes Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Patriotic Front, the Linda Mwananchi Movement led by Edwin Sifuna — who built his national profile as ODM Secretary General before departing — and several other formations of varying size and coherence. How these entities relate to one another, and whether they can agree on a unified presidential candidate and a workable coalition framework, is the central unresolved question of Kenya’s pre-election period.

ODM’s formal independence from Azimio gives it greater flexibility in those negotiations. It is no longer bound by the coalition’s internal dynamics, its existing agreements or the leadership disputes that contributed to the formation’s weakening. It can engage with potential partners on its own terms, offer its organisational network as a contribution to any coalition it chooses to join, and walk away from arrangements it considers unfavourable without the institutional complications that coalition membership creates.

Whether that flexibility translates into strategic advantage will depend on decisions yet to be made. The 2027 election will ultimately be determined by the shape of the presidential contest, the credibility of the candidates and the ability of their respective formations to mobilise voters at the ward level. ODM, with its established structures, its retained presence in the Nairobi assembly and its freedom from Azimio’s constraints, is positioning itself to be a significant actor in that contest — on whatever terms the political season ultimately demands.

The formal exit letter has been filed. The repositioning has begun. The election is nine months away.