Azimio creator Ronny Raburu decries coalition’s shift to Ukombozi Alliance ahead of 2027 vote

Kenyan businessman Ronny Raburu, who suggested the Azimio la Umoja name, says the rebranding to Ukombozi Alliance erases the coalition’s ideological foundation.

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Ronny Raburu, a Kisumu‑born businessman who has lived in Tanzania for roughly 25 years, told TUKO that he is deeply disappointed by the opposition coalition’s decision to drop the Azimio la Umoja name and adopt the Ukombozi Alliance banner ahead of the 2027 general election.

Raburu said he originally proposed the Swahili term Azimio la Umoja to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in 2021 after the courts nullified the Building Bridges Initiative, seeking a name that would preserve the spirit of national unity championed by the BBI.

He warned that the new Ukombozi label lacks a philosophical foundation and amounts to campaign sloganeering, fearing that Raila’s political legacy is being erased with unusual speed.

How the Azimio name was chosen and its role in the coalition

Raburu drew the name Azimio la Umoja from Tanzania’s 1967 Arusha Declaration, a foundational socialist policy document authored by Julius Nyerere, after consulting friends, elders and historians familiar with Tanzanian political history.

Raila Odinga publicly launched the Azimio la Umoja name at a gathering in Nakuru, and the coalition subsequently united parties such as ODM, Jubilee, Wiper and KANU for the 2022 presidential race under that banner.