The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) entourage has landed at the home of the Cooperatives and SMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya in Butere ahead of the Linda Ground forum set to take place in Kakamega County.

The ODM brigade, led by the party leader, arrived in shifts, with the first group led by party leader Oburu Odinga and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, who arrived earlier and were welcomed at the house of the Cabinet Secretary.

The second group was led by Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga and Migori Senator Eddy Oketch, among other top ODM officials.

All groups were welcomed by Oparanya and other Kakamega ODM officials, led by County Woman Rep. Elsie Muhanda and Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera, who will be gracing the event.

This comes at a time when the county ODM leadership, led by Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa and Nabii Nabwera, are at loggerheads over the county leadership of the party.

The feud between the two officials originated from last year’s grassroots elections, where Fernandes Barasa was declared the duly elected chairman of the Kakamega ODM delegates, a result Nabii Nabwera strongly disagreed with, claiming he was the rightful winner.

The Linda Ground forum has highlighted the feud between the two, with Nabii aligning with Oparanya, who is not in sync with Fernandes Barasa. This split saw Oparanya endorse Elsie Muhanda to vie against the incumbent in 2027. The Linda Ground forums are set to take place in two distinct areas within the county: one in Butere and the other in Kakamega town.

The grounds at Butere are already prepared, with delegates convened and ready for the forum. A separate venue in Kakamega has also been set aside by the governor, where the major event is scheduled to take place after the Butere forum.

Busia Linda ground forum

This follows a similar exercise in Busia County, which saw thousands of ODM supporters turn out in large numbers to endorse the ODM–UDA pre-coalition talks. The talks emerged as a resolution of the party’s Central Management Committee (CMC), which gave the party leader the green light to engage other like-minded parties, including UDA, on a coalition basis as part of the party’s preparations for the 2027 General Election.

The first Linda Grounds forum was held at Kibra Grounds, a historic venue where, according to Oburu Odinga, the late Raila Odinga would often gather whenever he had an important political message to pass to his supporters.

Culmination of Linda’s ground forums

The Linda Ground forum in Kakamega, held on Sunday, January 18, 2025, will mark the culmination of the forums in Western Kenya. The party will then move to other regions. After the forums, a special National Delegates Conference (NDC) will be convened to forward the decisions to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which will adopt them as official party resolutions. The resolutions will pave the way for an alliance with the UDA party.