UDA Explained: Kenya's Ruling Party Heading Into 2027

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is Kenya's ruling party. William Ruto leads it and is its candidate for re-election on 10 August 2027. It is the largest recipient of public party funding, close to Sh550 million in 2026/27, and in January 2026 more than 12,000 people applied to run on its ticket. It is also losing senior figures in Mt Kenya to Rigathi Gachagua's Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) and others, and it is negotiating a pre-election deal with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) that would share out seats it might otherwise contest.

Where UDA came from

UDA did not start from scratch. In December 2020 an existing registered party, the Party of Development and Reforms (PDR), was renamed and rebranded as UDA, The Standard reported. Ruto, then Deputy President, had fallen out with Uhuru Kenyatta and needed a vehicle outside Jubilee.

Taking over a registered party saved months of paperwork. The route is common in Kenya, and we explain it in why Kenyan parties rebrand instead of reforming. On 12 April 2022 UDA signed the Kenya Kwanza coalition agreement with Musalia Mudavadi's Amani National Congress, Moses Wetang'ula's Ford Kenya and other parties, and Ruto won the presidency that August on the UDA ticket, the party's first general election.

Who runs it

• Party leader: President William Ruto.
• National chairperson: Cecily Mbarire (Governor, Embu).
• Secretary-General: Hassan Omar, a former Mombasa senator, who is also running for Mombasa governor.

Mbarire and Omar signed the party's latest financial statements, The Star reported. Deputy President Kithure Kindiki is the party's second most senior figure in government, and he chaired the UDA polling-centre officials' meeting at Nembure in Embu on 12 September 2026 where two men were shot dead, covered in two men died at a UDA meeting in Embu.

The money

UDA's share of the 2026/27 Political Parties Fund, gazetted on 21 August 2026, is close to Sh550 million of about Sh1.4 billion, according to Kenyans.co.ke. ODM is second at about Sh294 million. The fund follows votes and seats won at the last election, which is why a party that did well in 2022 does well now. The full list is in the 2026/27 Political Parties Fund.

Its own accounts for the year to 30 June 2026 show what it did with money. The Star reported on 4 September that UDA spent Sh1.26 billion, up from about Sh685 million a year earlier, against revenue of Sh1.10 billion, leaving a deficit of Sh154.9 million.

In July the party refurbished the Hustler Centre, the nerve centre of Ruto's 2022 campaign, as noted in UDA has reopened the Hustler Centre.

Demand for the ticket

Before a National Governing Council meeting at State House on 26 January 2026, UDA asked would-be candidates to register. The Nation reported the totals: 149 aspirants for the 47 governor seats, 279 for the Senate, 323 for woman representative, 1,372 for the 290 constituencies and 10,230 for the 1,450 wards, 12,353 in all. Fees ran from Sh2,000 for an MCA aspirant to Sh100,000 for a presidential one, and raised Sh31.82 million.

Heavy demand means hard primaries. Sitting governors such as Johnson Sakaja in Nairobi faced several rivals for the ticket, and each loser is a potential defector to another party. The party had also been running phased grassroots elections through 2026, with a ward-level round reported as set for 3 October.

Where it is losing ground

Mt Kenya voted heavily for Ruto in 2022. Since Gachagua's impeachment in 2024, the region has been where UDA bleeds most.

• Irungu Kang'ata (Governor, Murang'a) moved to DCP in July 2026, and Kiarie Badilisha (Governor, Nyandarua) is also with DCP.
• Kimani Wamatangi (Governor, Kiambu) said in August that he would not seek re-election on UDA.
• Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) moved to the People's Party of Kenya in August 2026.
• In the Ol Kalou by-election of 16 July 2026, DCP's candidate won with 35,440 votes to UDA's 5,450.

The governors' moves are covered in three Mt Kenya governors are leaving UDA. It is not one-way. UDA held Emurua Dikirr in May 2026, 18,266 votes to DCP's 10,760, and the Nation counted more than 30 trips by Kindiki to Mt Kenya counties in ten months, most of them to Meru, Tharaka-Nithi and Embu.

ANC and the courts

UDA tried to absorb Mudavadi's ANC. On 22 January 2026 the High Court declared void the dissolution of ANC and its merger into UDA, finding the February 2025 special delegates' meeting that approved it unlawful. Mudavadi appealed and told ANC supporters to stay in UDA. The appeal had not been decided by 23 September 2026.

The ODM question

UDA's biggest strategic choice is its partnership with ODM. The two signed a memorandum of understanding on 7 March 2025, and since August 2026 a joint team has been drafting a shared programme. ODM wants half of government and the running-mate slot, and in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kajiado the two parties have candidates who want the same seats. A pre-election coalition would mean UDA standing aside in some places. The agreement so far is in the ten-point agenda.

What to watch

The deadlines that bind every party apply to UDA too: nomination rules certified by the Registrar by 30 October 2026, the names of primary candidates to the IEBC by 8 April 2027, certified membership lists to the IEBC by 12 April, and primaries finished by 8 May 2027. For UDA the political test comes first, in whether a pre-election agreement with ODM is signed after ODM's memorial tour, planned to end in Nairobi on 31 October, and in how many losing aspirants leave when the tickets are handed out.