Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has signalled an imminent and formal departure from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, stating the time has come for new political formations. Speaking in Magarini, Kilifi County, on Monday, November 24, 2025, Mr. Musyoka announced he is in the advanced stages of cementing a political pact with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, a move that redraws Kenya's political map for the 2027 presidential contest.

“I was with Raila in Azimio. The coalition was to make him the president; now that he is sadly no more, we have reached the time to have a new political formation ahead of the 2027 elections,” Mr. Musyoka stated. He explicitly confirmed a new working relationship with Mr. Gachagua, who now leads the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP). “We are in a new arrangement with Gachagua with his party,” he asserted, pointing to collaborative efforts in the upcoming by-elections as evidence of their nascent alliance.

A New Opposition Front Emerges

The alliance between Musyoka and Gachagua represents the most significant political realignment since the 2022 election. It aims to create a formidable opposition front to challenge President William Ruto’s administration. This new coalition, often referred to as the “United Opposition,” has been gaining momentum since Mr. Gachagua’s impeachment in October 2024. The partnership is strategically crucial, potentially uniting Mr. Musyoka’s Ukambani political base with Mr. Gachagua’s significant influence in the vote-rich Mt. Kenya region.

Mr. Gachagua and his allies have actively courted Mr. Musyoka. In late 2024, Gachagua declared that the Mt. Kenya region owes a “political debt” to the Wiper leader for his support of the late President Mwai Kibaki. Leaders within this new formation have hinted that Mr. Musyoka is their preferred presidential flag bearer for the 2027 race. “It is no longer about guesswork. We already have the vote numbers and the candidate. We are only waiting for the day,” Mr. Gachagua told a rally in Kitui in October 2025.

The Final Collapse of Azimio

Mr. Musyoka’s declaration accelerates the widely reported disintegration of the Azimio coalition, which was formally registered in April 2022. In recent months, the coalition has been described by political analysts as being on its “deathbed.” In early November 2025, the Jubilee Party, a founding member of Azimio, took the extraordinary step of writing to the Registrar of Political Parties to formally request the removal of the Wiper Party from the coalition agreement, citing ideological misalignment and Wiper's open collaboration with other political outfits. According to the coalition's foundational agreement, any member party intending to leave must provide 90 days' notice to the coalition council.

The Wiper Party itself had already laid the groundwork for its exit, with plans announced for a National Delegates Convention in October 2025 to formally ratify the decision to leave Azimio. The death of Azimio’s co-principal, Raila Odinga, on October 15, 2025, appears to have been the final catalyst for the coalition's key partners to pursue new alliances.

Implications for Kenya's 2027 Election

This political realignment establishes the primary battle lines for the 2027 general election. It pits President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration, which now has a working relationship with the late Mr. Odinga’s ODM party, against a new opposition vehicle powered by the Musyoka-Gachagua axis. The upcoming by-elections scheduled for Thursday, November 27, 2025, in seven constituencies and one county are viewed as the first major electoral test for these new alliances.

The Musyoka-Gachagua pact is a direct challenge to President Ruto’s hold on the Mt. Kenya region, which was instrumental in his 2022 victory. Mr. Gachagua has framed his opposition as a necessary move to protect the region's interests and has been actively encouraging voter registration in Mr. Musyoka's strongholds to bolster their combined numerical strength. As these new formations solidify, the political landscape is set for a dynamic and highly competitive period as leaders campaign to win the support of the Kenyan electorate.