Uhuru Steps Aside as Azimio Chair: Who Will Lead the Opposition?

The move follows his decision to relinquish the Jubilee Party leadership after a High Court ruling upheld a law restricting former presidents from holding party office more than six months after leaving State House.

The resignation is more than a routine leadership change. It removes the last formal institutional link between Uhuru and the coalition he helped establish, while opening a contest over who will steer Azimio, now undergoing rebranding as The Ukombozi Alliance—through a volatile pre-election period.

What happened

On October 7, 2026, Uhuru resigns as Azimio Council chairperson with immediate effect. The reports added that the coalition’s National Steering Committee had identified former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Siaya Senator James Orengo as possible replacements.

The resignation came after Uhuru had already begun the process of stepping aside as Jubilee Party leader. Earlier reporting indicated that he would first complete the Jubilee handover before the coalition formally processed the change in its own chairmanship.

That sequence matters because Azimio is a coalition of parties, not simply an extension of Jubilee. Uhuru’s position as coalition council chairperson was separate from his role as Jubilee Party leader, although the two roles were closely connected in practice and both were affected by the legal and political pressure for him to exit formal party leadership.

The legal trigger

The immediate legal background is a High Court judgment delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi on September 14, 2026. The court upheld Section 6(1) of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act, which bars retired presidents from holding leadership office in a political party for more than six months after leaving office.

Crucially, the court did not bar a former president from belonging to a political party or participating in political activity. Justice Mugambi distinguished between formal party leadership and ordinary party membership or participation.

Uhuru left State House in September 2022 after serving two terms as president. By the time of the ruling, he had remained Jubilee Party leader and Azimio Council chairperson for roughly four years, well beyond the six-month limit set by the law.

Following the judgment, Uhuru said he would honour the directive and hand over his position in accordance with the Jubilee constitution. His office described the development as a reaffirmation of Kenya’s democratic maturity and expressed confidence that the transition would be seamless.

Uhuru’s role in Azimio

Uhuru was not a peripheral figure in Azimio. As chairperson of the coalition council, he occupied one of the coalition’s most influential organisational positions, helping convene meetings, guide internal decisions and oversee structural changes.

In February 2026, he chaired a rare Azimio Council meeting that announced major leadership changes following the death of longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga. The council appointed Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka as coalition party leader, replacing Raila, while Suba South MP Caroli Omondi replaced Junet Mohamed as secretary-general.

Those changes showed that Uhuru remained an active architect of the coalition’s post-Raila order. They also positioned Kalonzo as the leading public face of Azimio, even while Uhuru retained the council chairmanship.

His exit therefore creates a leadership vacuum at the top of the coalition’s decision-making structure. Kalonzo remains the coalition party leader, but the council chairperson role carries convening power and institutional authority that cannot simply be assumed by another officeholder.

Why the resignation matters

Uhuru’s departure changes the balance of power within the opposition in three important ways.

First, it formally separates him from the day-to-day leadership of the coalition. He may still be consulted as a former president and senior political figure, but he will no longer chair the body responsible for guiding Azimio’s internal affairs. Kalonzo explicitly said after the court ruling that Uhuru would remain a member of the movement whose counsel the coalition would continue to seek.

Second, it intensifies the competition to lead the opposition into 2027. With Raila Odinga dead and Kalonzo already installed as coalition party leader, the contest for the council chairmanship becomes a test of whether the coalition can unite behind one political centre or fragment further among rival camps.

Third, it removes a potential shield for the coalition’s internal disputes. Uhuru’s presence as chairperson gave Azimio a figure with national stature and presidential experience, but it also made him a target for critics who argued that a former president should not continue occupying formal opposition leadership positions years after leaving office.

President William Ruto had publicly criticised Uhuru for remaining Azimio chairperson and organising the opposition against the government. That criticism added political pressure to a legal position that was already difficult for Uhuru to defend.

Uhuru’s political future

Resigning as Azimio chairperson does not necessarily mean Uhuru is leaving politics altogether. The High Court expressly preserved the right of former presidents to join and participate in political parties; it restricted formal leadership office, not political engagement itself.

Uhuru can therefore remain an influential behind-the-scenes figure. He may continue to advise coalition leaders, participate in political meetings and shape strategy without holding an official party or coalition position.

But the practical effect is significant. Without the council chairmanship, he loses a formal platform from which to convene Azimio, direct its organs and intervene in its leadership disputes. His influence will depend more on personal authority, party relationships and political negotiation than on institutional power.

What happens next

The immediate task for Azimio is to formalise the succession in accordance with its coalition constitution, the Political Parties Act and its deed of agreement. Kalonzo had earlier said the council would consider the court judgment and give it full effect, with any resulting changes notified to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.

The coalition must also manage expectations around the reported interest in Gachagua and Orengo. Until the council formally appoints a replacement, claims about the next chairperson should be treated as political positioning rather than a concluded decision.

For Uhuru, the resignation closes a chapter that began with his break from Ruto ahead of the 2022 election and continued through his role as a leading figure in the opposition coalition. For Azimio, it begins a more uncertain one: the coalition must now prove that it can renew its leadership without relying on the former president who helped hold it together.