Thousands of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters thronged Kirembe Grounds on Sunday, turning the venue into a sea of party colours in what has been billed as the “mother of all rallies” as the party seeks to reinforce its political grip on the wider Luo Nyanza region.
From early morning, streams of supporters from Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori and neighbouring counties poured into the grounds, waving flags, blowing vuvuzelas and chanting party slogans.
Supporters from different regions will assemble at designated points before proceeding to Keremba Grounds.
Those coming from across River Nyando and neighbouring areas gathered at Katito, supporters from Kisumu City and surrounding areas will assemble at Kondele, while those travelling from Siaya County and western parts of the region will meet at Ojolla before converging at the main venue.
The grounds quickly filled as musicians and local performers kept the growing crowd entertained, setting the tone for a high-energy political gathering.
The rally comes at a politically sensitive moment for the party, coming in the wake of a leadership transition following the death of long-time party leader Raila Odinga from frontline leadership.
Party officials say the meeting is meant to reaffirm unity and refocus the party’s grassroots structures amid emerging internal divisions.
Speakers are expected to rally supporters around unity and discipline within the party as it recalibrates its political strategy in the region.
The event is also seen as an attempt to send a clear message of dominance in Luo Nyanza politics ahead of future electoral realignments.
ODM Party Chairperson Gladys Wanga and party Leader Oburu Odinga are set to headline the gathering, with their addresses expected to focus on reconciliation, mobilisation and strengthening the party’s grassroots structures.
Their presence has been widely billed as central to efforts to steady the party and reinforce internal cohesion.
Meanwhile in Machakos, the Sifuna and James Orengo group were also having their mega rally.
Sifuna, Orengo lead Linda Mwananchi brigade in Machakos
Hatutaachana! Linda Mwananchi leaders pledge opposition unity ahead of 2027
Sifuna dismissed claims that Linda Mwananchi could be persuaded to back Ruto’s re-election bid
Leaders allied to the Linda Mwananchi movement on Sunday declared they would remain united ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting their alliance would be key to unseating President William Ruto.
Addressing supporters during a church service at AIC Kyanda Church in Mutituni, Machakos County, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Siaya Governor James Orengo and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino reaffirmed their commitment to the opposition movement and pledged support for Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
The leaders said they recognised Kalonzo’s loyalty to the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, noting that he stood by Raila’s presidential bids for 15 years despite repeated electoral defeats.
A team of opposition leaders allied to the Linda Mwananchi movement on Sunday pitched camp in Machakos County for a political mobilisation tour expected to traverse key towns in the region.
The leaders began their day by attending a church service at AIC Kyanda Church in Mutituni, Machakos Town Sub-county, before embarking on a series of public engagements in Mutituni, Machakos and Mlolongo towns in Machakos and Mavoko constituencies.
Also present are Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Matungulu MP Stephen Mule, Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi and Kaiti MP Joshua Kimilu, among other leaders.
The leaders are expected to interact with residents during the stopovers as the political tour continues across Machakos County.
On the other side the United Opposition just closer unity among their leaders and they are ready to take down the Ruto with his UDA and ODM team with no doubt.
You are not Mt Kenya kingpin, Karua to Gachagua
Innternal friction in United Opposition escalate
Political tensions within the United Opposition continue to escalate as People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua once again rejected the notion that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua holds the title of Mt Kenya political kingpin.
Karua in an interview with Radio Maisha dismissed growing the position that Gachagua, who have become the face of the opposition and Mt Kenya rebellion, now commands the loyalty of the vote-rich central Kenya region.
Karua said that high visibility and frequent political tours do not amount to leadership or electoral authority.
“Alichaguliwa wapi? [Where was he elected?] It is not to say that the one who shouts the most owns the property. Even in a matatu, the conductor is more populors than the driver. No election has ever made any single person the kingpin. You may be heard. That does not mean you are the kingpin,” Karua said.
The PLP leader also added that former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has also been taunted as the regional leader, is not the kingpin.
“Uhuru is a former president. It does not mean he is the kingpin” she said.
Pressed on whether any leader currently occupies the top political position in Mt Kenya, Karua insisted that no single individual can claim leadership over the entire voting bloc.
On her part she positioned herself as an independent political force in her own right, and among the leaders in the region.
“There are leaders, and I am one of them.”
She added that even at the time Gachagua extended an olive branch, he did have much influence in Mt Kenya, and that he took advantage of a region that had already rebelled against the government.
The former Justice minister added that Gachagua’s current prominence owes more to timing and political realignment than to any organic grassroots mandate.
“Remember, before I came to an understanding with Gachagua, he did not have that voice,” she said. “He got it later because he was in UDA, and people had already left UDA. You cannot say that because he walks around a lot, he is the kingpin,” she said.
This is the second time Karua has publicly rejected Gachagua’s kingpin status, signaling growing friction within the opposition’s ranks.
In a previous interview in May, Karua dismissed Gachagua’s claims to regional dominance in Mt Kenya, stating that he is “not the Mt Kenya kingpin”.
Instead, she described the former deputy president as “just a party leader like me or Uhuru Kenyatta.”
“Mt Kenya people had already left the government while he was still deputy president. He found us here,” she said.
While the two have previously cooperated politically, Karua was careful to clarify that she does not answer to either Gachagua or Uhuru, both of whom are in the United Opposition.
“He is not my leader,” she said of Gachagua. “And I am not under Uhuru. I respect him greatly, but I am not under him. He is a party leader, and I am a party leader. Let that be known by everyone. I respect every leader. But no one should say that I am under him.”
Karua’s remarks come at a sensitive moment for the opposition, which is facing internal working challenges, even as they seek a unified front to challenge Ruto in 2027.
In a recent interview, Jubilee deputy party Jeremiah Kioni said that Karua was onn her way out of the United Opposition due to lack of clarity in the camp.
Karua’s remarks are a signal that not all opposition figures are willing to cede regional leadership, potentially setting the stage for a battle over who truly speaks for central Kenya ahead of 2027.
To make everything good, James Orengo who is now Mr. Nobody in Kenya politics and a laughingstock trying to cling to the shoestrings of Edwin Sifuna and Babu Owino could not afford to be out of everything and he invented his own story to make himself look pretty dead politically in every aspect.
Orengo downplays ODM strength in Kisumu, claims Wabiro rally crowd was imported
Siaya Governor James Orengo has claimed that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) rally at Kirembe Grounds in Kisumu lacked organic local support.
The self-declared acting party leader of the Orange Party claimed that many attendees were ferried in from outside the region.
Speaking on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at AIC Kyanda Church ahead of the Linda Mwananchi rally in Machakos, Orengo cast doubt on the authenticity of the crowd that attended the high-profile gathering dubbed Wabiro, suggesting it was largely mobilised through organized transport logistics.
Why would James Orengo be mad that ODM supporters in numbers unseen in recent times are coming from everywhere for that incredible and historic rally for their party in Kisumu at this time. Orengo was in Machakos at the Edwin Sifuna rally and he should worry about how many people they were able to bring forward to their event.
Why is James Orengo concerned with another rally when he is not even visible in their Machakos event? Political irrelevance can have issues for veteran politicians and that is their problem to deal with.
And here is the other UDA and ODM rally in Wajir where President Ruto was holding his own rallies. This means the Ruto side had two rallies one in Kisumu and the other in Wajir.
Two term chants fill Wajir as leaders endorse Ruto for 2027
Health CS Aden Duale said the Somali community had, for the first time, felt fully included in government
President William Ruto addressing thousands of residents of Habaswein, Wajir south constituency.
Calls for President William Ruto’s re-election took centre stage on Sunday as political leaders in Wajir South declared their support for his 2027 bid, turning a development tour into a show of political solidarity behind the Head of State.
The leaders, led by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi and local elected representatives, praised the President’s development record in the North Eastern region and urged residents to back him for a second term.
Health CS Aden Duale said the Somali community had, for the first time, felt fully included in government under President Ruto’s administration.
“It is only under President Ruto’s government that we, as the Somali community, feel part and parcel of the government. You have restored our dignity, and for that alone we thank you and will forever be grateful,” Duale said.
He added that many professionals from the region now hold senior positions in government institutions.
“The only crime the president has committed, according to his detractors, is insisting that all Kenyans must be treated equally irrespective of tribe, religion or colour,” he said.
The real big now in the next months going to 2027 is or ODM to get their massive support base to register as voters for 2027. ODM has more than 2 million voters who did not vote in 2022 and that includes many with voting cards but a majority of people who are eligible to vote and have no voting cards.
If ODM can get the voter registration going full scale starting with making sure those who do not ID cards get them so they can register to vote. In Wajir President Ruto’s main message was asking people in the area to get apply for ID cards and then register to vote. That is the battle ahead for 2027.
From the crazy Sunday May 31, 2026 political events, Edwin Sifuna and his group now want to support Kalonzo Musyoka as their choice for the presidency. All that talk about Sifuna on top of the presidential race in 2027 is now dead because they have to allow some little common sense in their plans.
Why doesn’t the Sifuna group propose Rigathi Gachagua as the opposition presidential candidate in 2027? It is because they know Gachagua is dead politically.
What Sifuna and his group will learn rather urgently is that Rigathi Gachagua will decide who the opposition presidential candidate will be in 2027.
The Sifuna team are scared of running to bow to Gachagua because of his naked tribalism, but they will learn very fast that if they want to be in the opposition they will have to be under Rigathi Gachagua control. That is nice for them. Isn’t it? There are many ways of going nowhere in politics but that is a hard one for Sifuna and company.
