MOMBASA, Kenya, Feb 11 — ODM leader Oburu Oginga has declared recent Azimio coalition changes sanctioned by a faction allied to former President Uhuru Kenyatta invalid, insisting that ODM concurrence is mandatory.
Senator Oburu remarked on the canges amid a contest even as he vowed to formalise the party’s exit from the coalition which he termed moribund.
Speaking at the commencement of an ODM National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Mombasa on Wednesday, the newly installed party leader said any restructuring undertaken without the approval of all principal coalition partners — including ODM — cannot stand.
“There’s nobody who can make a decision in Azimio without the concurrence of ODM. And you cannot purport to appoint a new leader of Azimio excluding and bypassing this party called ODM,” Oburu said.
“Azimio was dead when ODM left it. We left it long time ago. It is only a formality which we have not performed and which we are going to perform very soon,” he stated.
His remarks escalate a deepening crisis within the opposition outfit following sweeping leadership changes announced on February 2 during a joint session of the Azimio Coalition Party Council and NEC chaired by Kenyatta.
The meeting named Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka as Azimio Party Leader, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi as Secretary General replacing Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, and former Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia as Executive Director.
However, Junet rejected his removal, accusing Musyoka of bypassing procedures contained in the coalition’s deed of agreement — a legally binding document deposited with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).
“Azimio has a legal document deposited with ORPP. You decided not to follow the provisions of the document to do the changes you purported to have done,” Junet said, maintaining he does not recognise the restructuring.
Musyoka, on his part, has accused State House of interfering with the publication of the changes, claiming the Government Printer was instructed to block gazettement despite what he described as ORPP approval.
President William Ruto has since waded into the dispute, dismissing renewed efforts to revive Azimio and declaring the coalition politically untenable without ODM.
“Azimio without ODM is dead,” Ruto said while addressing residents in Pipeline, Nairobi, arguing that the opposition outfit had already been decisively defeated in the 2022 General Election.
His remarks come amid rising tensions within ODM over its relationship with Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the future of the broad-based government arrangement formed after Raila Odinga’s death in October 2025.
UDA has formally tasked Ruto, in his capacity as party leader, to negotiate a political pact with ODM ahead of the 2027 elections, signalling the possibility of a broader realignment.
Against this backdrop, Oburu insisted ODM cannot recognise unilateral alterations made without its formal participation and consent, arguing that coalition agreements bind partners to structured consultation.
“When you join a club, you must obey the rules of that club,” he told NEC members, stressing that democracy must operate within agreed frameworks and discipline.
He signalled that ODM would formally communicate its position and would not be party to arrangements that sideline its organs — raising the prospect of a structured disengagement from Azimio at a time when the coalition’s future appears increasingly uncertain.
Oburu’s intervention now places ODM at the centre of the coalition wrangle, setting the stage for a legal, political showdown as formations reposition for 2027.
