Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has rejected an invitation by ODM leader Raila Odinga to attend the party’s founder members’ celebration slated for October 10, 2025.
While speaking at the SKM Command Centre during the unveiling of various candidates on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, who will partake in the upcoming by-elections, he said that the invitation was extended to him personally by the ODM leader, requesting him to attend the ceremony.
Kalonzo further stated that on the same date, when ODM is scheduled to hold its founder members’ celebration, his party, Wiper Patriotic Fron,t will also be holding its National Delegates Conference, making him unable to attend the event.
He added that he is going to craft a reply letter to his friend Raila, whom he has stood by and supported three times, to formally decline the invitation.
Kalonzo also noted that he is aware President William Ruto has likewise been invited to attend the event since he is also a founder member of the Orange party.
“Raila Odinga ameniandikia a very nice letter, my dear brother, as a founder member of ODM, for an event on the 10th. Unfortunately, I am going to reply telling Jim that on the 10th, we will be having the national delegates conference of Wiper, so I will not attend,” Kalonzo stated.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Kenya’s leading opposition party, is set to mark its 20th anniversary from October 10 to 12, 2025, in Mombasa with a vibrant “rebirth” celebration, signalling a strategic repositioning for the 2027 elections.
The event, featuring a National Delegates Convention, Youth Summit, Women’s Convention, and a football tournament, aims to unify the party, heal internal rifts following its MoU with UDA, and expand its base through initiatives such as the Raila Odinga Academy of Leadership for youth.
Kalonzo Musyoka played a pivotal role in the 2005 Orange campaign against the proposed constitution but left ODM in 2007 after a leadership fallout with Raila Odinga, forming the Wiper Democratic Movement–Kenya to pursue his own presidential ambitions.
