Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) is pushing for a different approach to opposition unity, insisting it will retain its independent identity rather than immediately joining the newly rebranded Ukombozi Alliance.
The position sets the party on a separate path from Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who has indicated that DCP is among the political formations he wants brought into the wider alliance ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Ukombozi Alliance was unveiled on September 21 after the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition adopted a new name as part of efforts to reorganise the opposition ahead of the elections.
DCP, however, says it wants to first consolidate its own political support before entering a major coalition arrangement, arguing that its electoral strength should form the basis of any future negotiations.
DCP Council of Eminent Persons chairman Maina Kamanda said the party believes it can mobilise more than eight million votes and therefore needs to assess the contribution of each political formation before committing to an alliance.
“Mr Gachagua has mobilised a majority of Mt Kenya voters under DCP. He has reached out to the Maa and Kipsigis communities. He is a national movement on his own,” Kamanda said.
He also named Gachagua, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, DAP-Kenya leader Eugene Wamalwa and Kalonzo as the figures DCP considers to have significant political influence within the opposition.
The debate has exposed a broader question within the emerging opposition alliance over how political influence should be measured and which leaders should have a central role in negotiations.
DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala has been more explicit about the party’s preferred arrangement, saying DCP could first work with Sifuna before engaging the wider Ukombozi Alliance.
“The DCP plus Sifuna equals an independent force. Ukombozi is another force. Those two forces can only negotiate on how to approach the 2027 General Election as independent entities,” Malala said on September 22.
The position has also been echoed by Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, who said DCP was not prepared to enter a coalition that had already been established by other parties.
“Azimio or Ukombozi have their owners. We were not party to their formation. DCP is independent. Period. We can also be approached to admit others, not join them,” Gakuya said.
Gachagua has similarly argued that opposition parties should first strengthen their grassroots structures before entering coalition negotiations.
During his ongoing engagements in the United States, he said parties should consolidate their support bases and establish their political numbers before deciding how to unite.
“We will only consider alliances after we have fully consolidated our support base,” Gachagua said on September 19.
He added that any attempt to dislodge a sitting president would ultimately depend on the numbers that opposition parties can assemble.
“Removing a sitting president is not a walk in the park. It is not an easy task. Removing him will be a game of numbers,” he said.
Despite maintaining DCP’s independence and his own presidential ambitions, Gachagua has left open the possibility of supporting a single opposition candidate if the various parties agree on one person to carry the joint ticket.
The DCP leader has said the party supports the principle of having one opposition presidential candidate while maintaining its own programmes and structures.
“The DCP is an independent party with its programmes and goals,” he said.
The party has also pointed to its performance in the July 17 Ol Kalou by-election as evidence of its growing political base, particularly in Mt Kenya.
Kamanda said the result demonstrated that DCP was building its own support and could therefore approach future coalition negotiations from an independent platform.
DCP Secretary-General designate John Methu said the party did not want to become a junior partner in a larger political arrangement.
“The only concurrence under the united opposition should be a joint presidential candidate, which does not need us to enter into group fellowship. We can adopt the joint candidate and campaign for him or her while remaining as DCP,” he said.
The position leaves the door open for cooperation between DCP and other opposition formations, but places emphasis on negotiations between independent political forces rather than automatic membership of Ukombozi.
The disagreement therefore goes beyond the question of whether DCP will join Ukombozi. It also touches on who should negotiate for the opposition, how political strength will be assessed and what structure will eventually be used to coordinate the opposition’s 2027 campaign.
Recent reporting has similarly highlighted resistance from DCP and other political actors to immediately joining Ukombozi, with the emerging formations pursuing different approaches to coalition-building.