ODM and UDA leaders are set for a three-day retreat in Naivasha, Nakuru County, starting Monday in what now looks like the clearest signal yet that Kenya’s broad-based political experiment is being slowly turned into a 2027 election machine.
The meeting will bring together governors, deputy governors, Members of Parliament, senators, Cabinet secretaries and Speakers of Parliament from both sides as President William Ruto’s UDA and Oburu Oginga’s ODM seek to agree on a working formula for the next polls.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah confirmed the meeting, saying the leaders will begin arriving on Sunday evening before the main plenary sessions open on Monday.
“We will check in on Sunday evening; we have some meetings on Sunday evening, and we have the main plenary on Monday,” Ichung’wah said.
According to Ichung’wah, the retreat will be used to craft a political and legislative roadmap for the coming year as the two formations prepare for the election season.
“We are formulating the way forward for what we intend to do in the next year in the run-up to the general elections. We will engage our members regarding those who are interested in participating and who will represent our people,” he said.
At the heart of the retreat will be the formation of a team to begin formal coalition negotiations between ODM and UDA.
Ichung’wah said the two party leaders had already given instructions for officials to prepare the ground for structured talks.
“The two party leaders directed that we work towards forming a team to handle the negotiations we expect to go into, and I do not want to preempt what is coming before the meeting over the weekend and early Monday,” he added.
ODM is not walking to Naivasha as a junior partner seeking accommodation and wants a proper stake in the arrangement.
The party and its leaders are expected to push for both the Deputy President position and a 50/50 sharing of government should they back Ruto’s re-election bid.
Kilifi Senator and Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo made ODM’s position clear, saying the party expects the talks to address the question of political fairness and future power distribution.
“We are keen on knowing exactly how we move forward. We demand that if we have to work together, it is only proper that the position of the Deputy President come from the ODM party,” Madzayo said.
That demand is likely to be the most sensitive item on the table.
For ODM, the Deputy President slot would be a visible national guarantee that ODM has entered the centre of power on equal footing.
For UDA, however, the issue is delicate. President Ruto’s party already has its internal ambitions, regional balances and loyalists who expect to be rewarded in 2027.
ODM leaders are also expected to push for a formula covering Cabinet positions, principal secretaries, parliamentary leadership, state appointments and campaign structures.
