The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has postponed its widely publicised 20th anniversary event, which was due to take place in Mombasa from October 10 to 12.
The three-day main event will now take place from November 14 to 16.
In a statement released on Friday, October 3, the party announced that the decision to postpone the event had been made following a consultative meeting with the party leader, Raila Odinga.
The ODM@20 Planning Committee, led by Junet Mohamed, said that the decision took into account requests from regions that the party has not yet visited as part of its anniversary engagements campaign.
“In our briefing to the Party Leader, we highlighted the ongoing demands and requests from counties that we have not yet visited in the course of our party's anniversary engagements,” Mohammed said.
“ To date, the ODM@20 celebrations have been successfully hosted in Busia, Wajir, Kisii, and Narok counties. However, there remains a strong call from other regions across the country for us to extend this historic commemoration to their areas as well to enable those who cannot travel to Mombasa to be part of the fete.”
According to Mohammed, the move will now allow the party to engage more counties before the main event.
“After careful consideration, the Party Leader graciously agreed to our request to expand the program and ensure inclusivity by engaging with more counties before converging in Mombasa for the grand celebrations.”
The planning committee also released a new schedule for activities that will culminate in the grand celebrations in Mombasa.
The added activities include a soccer tournament and county engagement forums:
- 9th & 10th October - ODM@20 Soccer Tournament
- 15th October - Kajiado County
- 26th October - Turkana County
- 2nd November - Kilifi County (Magarini)
- 9th November - Nairobi County
In the initial notice released by the party’s secretary general Edwin Sifuna, the festivities will include several summits and a four-team football tournament, including top teams like Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards SC. Bandari FC and Shabana FC will also participate in the tournament.
Sifuna also said that a Youth Concert, showcasing talent, creativity, and the spirit of the party, will also be featured during the three-day celebrations.
ODM was founded in 2005 during the Constitution referendum campaign. Its name 'orange' originates from the image on the ballot cards, in which orange represented 'no' and banana represented 'yes'.
The Orange Movement later evolved into the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the party.
