In what is likely to be an emotional end of an era for ODM diehards, the Star has established that the party has up to December to vacate the premises it has occupied since its birth 11 years ago.
Set with a unique Hindu architectural design, Orange House had become synonymous with ODM and the nerve centre of Raila’s political machine.
The party began using the office soon after it was formed in 2006. It was to become the seat of Raila’s campaign operations when he ran against President Mwai Kibaki in 2007 presidential election.
The party’s summit, the Pentagon, operated from Orange House and but had another exclusive facility along Ole Dume Road christened Pentagon House.
The lone house compound was ideal for political meetings that sometimes ran into fist-fights and physical confrontations. Sometimes, it was just an attempted putsch to dethrone officials at the secretariat, such as when former Executive director Magerer Lang’at was violently ejected by party hardliners on October 30, 2014, from a meeting of party officials.
Director of strategy Wafula Buke swiftly installed himself as the acting chief executive until order was restored later.
In yet another incident after a lull, on June 14, 2016, Edwin Sifuna declared himself the secretary general of the party, deposing Ababu Namwamba who had fallen out of favour with the party after a protracted duel.
Despite the occasional fracas and drama, Orange House remained the ODM headquarters through three elections as Raila faced Kibaki, and later Uhuru in 2013 and 2017 polls.