The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Linda Ground tours are set to take place in Kakamega Town after a similar event in Busia.

The ODM party event will be held in Kakamega Town on Sunday, January 18, 2025, following a successful tour the previous day in Busia, where thousands of ODM supporters turned up to grace the party event.

This comes amid wrangles within the ODM Kakamega chapter, where the county governor, Fernandes Barasa, is locked in a conflict with Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera over the party’s chairmanship in Kakamega.

The two failed to reach an agreement in 2025 after the party polls, where Barasa was announced the ODM Kakamega chairman, with Nabii Nabwera expressing discontent with the process, claiming that he was the rightful winner. To date, the standoff has not been resolved.

Nabii Nabwera has announced that as the chairman, he will be the one gracing the event under the leadership of the party leader, Oburu Odinga, at Mumias Sports Ground.

This comes a day after the Busia event, where, according to the party, thousands of ODM supporters came out to endorse the ODM–UDA pre-coalition talks.

The Kakamega ODM Linda Ground forum will mark the end of the exercise in Western Kenya, with the party set to move to other regions.

ODM Linda ground meetings

The forums began at Kibra Grounds, a historic venue where, according to Oburu Odinga, the late Raila Odinga would often resort whenever he had an important political message to pass across.

They then proceeded to Kamukunji before setting their sights on the Western region, starting with Busia and Kakamega, which have since time immemorial been ODM strongholds.

ODM-UDA pre-coalition talks

The Linda Ground forums were a resolution of ODM’s Central Management Committee (CMC), which tasked the party leader to begin structured talks with other like-minded parties, including the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), on how they will work towards the 2027 General Election.

After the Linda Ground talks, the party’s National Delegates Conference (NDC) will be prepared to rubber-stamp the outcomes of the engagements. The resolutions will then be taken up by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party and adopted as the party’s official position.

UDA’s resolution

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has welcomed the pre-coalition talks pushed by the ODM party, saying they are ready for them.

President William Ruto, who also serves as the UDA party leader, chaired an NEC meeting at State House where they deliberated on the olive branch extended by ODM. He later stated during a function in Nyeri that UDA is ready to enter into a coalition with other parties, including ODM.