It is crystal clear that opposition leader Raila Odinga has been met with pressure to call off his planned rally at the Jacaranda grounds in Embakasi East constituency on Sunday.
Among the people pouring the pressure are the officials of the eminent local football club, Gor Mahia , where Raila is the patron and an ardent supporter since he has never missed the derby.
Gor mahia wrote to the Opposition chief asking him to call off the rally as it coincides with the Mashemeji Derby pitting the club against arch rivals, AFC Leopards.
In the letter, Gor Mahia Secretary General Samuel Ocholla asked the organisers of the upcoming Azimio rally to either hold the meeting or call it off to give room for fans to attend the derby.
It is assumed that the majority of Gor Mahia’s supporters are from the lake region while those of AFC Leopards from are the Luhya community, both of which provide the bedrock of Raila’s support. From the assumption the aforementioned groups will have to face the dilemma head on.
“To our esteemed patron, the Right Honourable Raila Odinga. We, the K’ogalo fraternity is aware that you have planned a consultative meeting-cum-demo with wananchi on Sunday January 29, 2023,” the letter stated partly.
The letter continued to state this;
“As our dear Patron, we wish to remind you of our Mashemeji Derby with AFC Leopards at 3.00pm at Nyayo National Stadium, the same day that you will be holding the demo. We hereby formally invite you to grace the occasion.We also appeal to you to consider either rescheduling the demo or having it in good time to enable supporters of both clubs make their way to the stadium in time for the derby.”The letter read.
The last time Raila attended the derby was on May 8, last year in the company of then President Uhuru Kenyatta.