ODM leads nationwide candle-lighting ceremonies at 6pm, with the main event at Uhuru Park, as Kenya marks one year since Raila Odinga's death. Babu Owino hosts a parallel vigil at Jacaranda Grounds from 3pm.
A year after Kenya lost one of its most defining political figures, the country pauses tonight to remember him. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has organised nationwide candle-lighting ceremonies set for 6pm, marking a solemn milestone since the death of party founder and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Uhuru Park Takes Centre Stage
The main commemoration will be held at Nairobi's Uhuru Park, a venue long associated with mass political gatherings and public expression in Kenya. Supporters from across the country are expected to light candles in unison at 6pm, in a quiet but symbolic tribute to a leader whose decades-long political journey shaped the nation's democratic story.
The candle-lighting exercise forms part of a broader, month-long programme dubbed "Mwezi wa Baba" (Baba's Month), through which ODM and allied leaders have lined up commemorative events running through October to honour Raila's legacy.
A Parallel Tribute at Jacaranda Grounds
Away from Uhuru Park, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino is set to host his own candle-lighting ceremony at Jacaranda Grounds, starting earlier at 3pm. The Eastlands ground, a familiar rallying point for opposition politics in Nairobi, will once again host supporters gathering to remember Raila's life and the political legacy he leaves behind.
The two ceremonies, though separate, speak to the same sentiment — a nation, and a political movement, still processing the loss of a figure many referred to simply as "Baba."
Remembering a Towering Legacy
Raila Odinga's death left a void felt far beyond ODM's ranks, resonating across Kenya's political, social and cultural landscape. As candle-lighting ceremonies unfold in Nairobi and other parts of the country this evening, they offer Kenyans — supporters and non-supporters alike — a moment to reflect on his decades of influence on the country's democratic journey.
With more commemorative activities planned throughout October, tonight's ceremonies mark only the beginning of what promises to be a month heavy with memory, reflection and tribute to a leader whose shadow still looms large over Kenyan politics.