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ODM leader Raila Odinga addresses Azimio consultative meeting at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi on June 27, 2023. [File, Standard]
Growing up, I knew Saba Saba through the name Raila Odinga. To me, it wasn't a chapter in Kenya's democratic history; it was simply "Baba's day." Whenever July 7 came around, I expected news of rallies, chants, police roadblocks, and a country divided between those who supported the demonstrations and those who didn't. I never stopped to ask where Saba Saba came from or what it originally stood for.
As I grew older, I learned that Saba Saba is much bigger than one political figure. It traces back to the struggle for multiparty democracy and the demand for greater political freedoms. That history gave the day a meaning I hadn't appreciated as a child. Still, for many Kenyans of my generation, it is difficult to separate Saba Saba from the image of Raila Odinga, whose political activism shaped how we experienced the day.
This year, however, Saba Saba felt different.
