Political party zoning being propagated by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) may run into legal bottlenecks if the parties push to formalise coalition documents.

Speaking in Nakuru, on Thursday, April 23, 2026, lawyer Bernhard Kipkoech Ngetich said that the political rights of every Kenyan are protected under the constitution, and as such, political parties can’t engage in a legally binding agreement that negates the principle.

He said that political parties can have informal conversations to strategise how to win electoral seats through consensus. However, the same should not be captured in any legal document.

“The constitution of Kenya article 38, gives express benefits of political rights to all Kenyans to belong to any party of choice and contest in any part of the country without limitation and so political parties must tread carefully how they engage without denying the members their constitutional rights,” he said.

Political parties

Ngetich said that there is a need for the political parties to allow free exercise of the political rights across the board.

He said that campaigning by all the candidates under the same coalition gives the presidential candidate a better chance as every one of them mobilises a vote for their common choice.

Over the last few weeks, there has been a simmering tension between ODM and UDA over the idea of zoning some of the electoral areas exclusively for the partners.

Some of the ODM leaders argued that without zoning, their numerical strength in the legislative houses would be drastically affected through the infiltration of their UDA partner.

However, Ngetich said that zoning may create more problems for the country than the ordinary expectations of managing political interests.

Opposition politics

On the opposition politics, he said that while the broad-based government has a clear candidate for the presidency, the united opposition are still toying about their candidate of choice and thus slowing down momentum for their supporters to make decisions.

He said that the members are still sending conflicting signals, including the latest communication by the Jubilee party and DCP on their positions in regard to the byelection in Ol Kalou.