An action by the late Samuel Kivuitu, the former chairman of the now-defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), may have unintentionally set the stage for the birth of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) two decades ago.
Kivuitu, who oversaw the referendum on the proposed constitution, summoned both the Yes and No camps to his office at Anniversary Towers to allocate their respective symbols.
“Upon our arrival, Kivuitu was holding two fruits—an orange and a banana. He initially gave us the banana but immediately took it back and handed us the orange instead. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we had ended up with the banana,” ODM founding chairman Henry Kosgey recounted.
The referendum put President Mwai Kibaki’s PNU, which championed the Yes vote, against the No side led by dissident Cabinet ministers who had allied with opposition party Kanu. Raila Odinga, who advocated for devolution, led the rebelling government faction.
During a rally in Kisumu, former Tourism Minister Najib Balala announced that the Orange camp would evolve into a political movement—a declaration that electrified the crowd.
President William Ruto, Kosgey, Dr Oburu Oginga, and Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o later recalled that the idea had first been floated at the Imperial Hotel, where the leaders had convened before the rally.
“What I didn’t know then was that Dr Oburu and Balala had privately agreed on making that declaration,” President Ruto noted. Balala, however, missed the Founders Dinner as he was reportedly out of the country.
Alongside Raila, Ruto, Nyong’o, Kosgey, and Dr Oburu, other key founders included former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, former Thika Mayor Mumbi Ngaru, Mining CS Hassan Joho, and EAC CS Beatrice Askul, among others.
After their meeting at the Imperial Hotel, the leaders proceeded to Machakos to draft the party’s foundational documents, despite concerns from members who were then in government or aligned with Kanu.
“I was Kanu’s secretary general, and Uhuru was the chairman. Others belonged to the LDP and were part of the government,” Ruto recalled.
In Machakos, the team realised that lawyer Mugambi Imanyara had already registered ODM. They then opted to register ODM Kenya through the network of former ODM Executive Director Janet Ongera, using lawyer Dan Maanzo—now the Makueni Senator—as the trustee.
When Maanzo refused to surrender the certificate, the group was left in uncertainty until Raila informed Kosgey that he had met Imanyara and asked him to outline his conditions.
“They met at a hotel along Lenana Road. Raila was always the strategist, and I remember him saying, ‘We now have a certificate,’” Kosgey recalled.
By 2007, ODM had grown into a formidable political force with Raila as party leader, Ruto as his deputy, Kosgey as chairman, and Nyong’o as secretary general.
The party went on to win the majority of parliamentary seats in the disputed 2007 elections, after which President Kibaki was sworn in at night at State House—an event that pushed the country to the brink of civil conflict, resulting in over 1,500 deaths and the displacement of more than half a million people.
