The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a political party that was founded in 1999 by politicians who were at the time considederd to be renegades from the then ruling party

Kenya African National Union The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 19 ...

but was denied registration by the then head of state

Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...

and most of its then leaders went to other parties by the time of the 2002 general elections.

2007 General Elections

UDM allied itself with the

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

in supporting

Raila Odinga Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata and businessman who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He is assumed to be the Leader of Opposition in Kenya sin ...

's candidacy for the office of

President of Kenya The president of the Republic of Kenya () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Kenya. The President is also the head of the executive branch of the Government of Kenya and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Def ...

, and fielded several candidates in the parliamentary elections. Its most prominent member of that parliament was

Hellen Sambili In Greek mythology, Hellen (; grc, Ἕλλην) is the eponymous progenitor of the Hellenes. He is the child of Deucalion (or Zeus) and Pyrrha, and the father of three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, by whom he is the ancestor of the Greek ...

who served as Minister of East African Cooperation in Kenya's grand coalition government. The party was briefly subject to a leadership struggle as a faction of 'rebel' ODM Members of Parliament, allied to William Ruto attempted to take control of the party to use it as their platform for the 2012 elections. However, following resistance from the existing leadership Ruto and his allies opted to form the United Republican Party. in December 2012, the party was part of a short lived four party coalition, including the

National Vision Party The National Vision Party of Kenya is a political party founded, by former cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott in 2008, in the fall out of his failed attempts to seize control of former ruling party the Kenya African National Union from Uhuru Kenyat ...

New Ford Kenya New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and

to field a single presidential candidate at the 2013 general elections, before finally settling on becoming part of the

Coalition for Reforms and Democracy The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy was a coalition of multiple political parties, built around the triumvirate of Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, and Moses Wetangula, to contest the Kenya general elections of 2013. The members of the coalit ...

Kenyan general election, 2017 General elections were held in Kenya on 8 August 2017 to elect the President, members of the National Assembly and Senate. They coincided with the 2017 Kenyan local elections which elected Governors and representatives in the devolved govern ...

In 2016,Kenya's former Director of Public Prosecutions

Philip Murgor Philip Kipchirchir Murgor is a Kenyan lawyer. Early life and education Philip Machatha Murgor was born on the 4th of July 1961 at Iten District Hospital to Christine Chebor, a nurse, in Elgeyo-Marakwet District (now Elgeyo-Marakwet County), K ...

was unveiled as the United Democratic Movement (Kenya) presidential candidate in Nairobi for the August 2017 General Election.

2022

On 10th March 2022, the UDM endorsed ODM chief Odinga for resident in the 2022 general elections. On 18th August 2022, the UDM ditched Odinga in favor of the president-elect, Dr. William Ruto. That meant that the United Democratic Alliance had a majority in the Senate, National Assembly, and the Council of governors.

References

Political parties in Kenya Political parties established in 1999 1999 establishments in Kenya {{Kenya-party-stub