Why only coalitions will define Kenya post 2027

President William Ruto during the signing of Performance Contracts by Cabinet Secretaries, State House, Nairobi. [PCS]

In Kenya's peculiar democracy, when you ask which coalition controls Parliament, the answer is not as black and white as it would be elsewhere. It depends on who you ask. To the Judiciary, Azimio la Umoja remains the majority alliance. To the parliamentary leadership, particularly the Speaker, it is Kenya Kwanza.

That contradiction was crystallised by a recent High Court ruling that overturned the Speaker's declaration naming Kenya Kwanza as the majority coalition. The judges found that several Azimio MPs had been reassigned without evidence of valid post-election agreements, exposing, once again, how the lines between law and politics in Kenya often blur.