Sea of blue and orange as Raila Odinga makes final call

For Raila, yesterday marked the end of two journeys - the campaign that started in December last year at the spot it ended yesterday, Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, and the one that started in the 1990s.

"The long, dark night is almost gone and the morning soon will break," Raila would describe the moment as he sounded a war cry to his supporters, amid blue theatrical smoke. "We are on the verge of a great victory. I, Raila Amolo Odinga, have seen Canaan; the land of milk and honey. The land of "...No woman, No cry". I have seen the Promised Land; the land of The Redemption," he said before breaking into song, Bob Marley's Redemption Song.

He had spent 25 minutes selling the Azimio la Umoja candidacy as the safest pair of hands, dismissing his Kenya Kwanza opponents as a pair that would derail the country's gains. And the music was carefully chosen to capture the moment.

The lyrics of Redemption Song - but my hand was made strong by the hand of the almighty we forward in this generation triumphantly - offered reflection into the second liberation struggle, and the victory achieved with the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.

But the Azimio supporters, drowning in the frenzy of the moment, were perhaps too lost in their joy to pay attention to the words. Their cheering competed with the voices from the public address system - of the emcee and singers and politicians.

"Vijana wanakuamini sana," Tanzanian artiste Diamond Platinumz, told Raila. Diamond's Baba Lao would assure Azimio supporters that they were on the winning side. "Wataweza kweli kushindana nasi," he sang.

For much of the day, Raila's supporters had raced around the stadium in groups, led by their custodian of a Vote Blue flag, has which Raila's and Martha Karua's images.

Under a cloudy sky, they looked indefatigable. But an afternoon sun would leave some of them desperate for a rest. Many more, however, kept the fire burning, building up the ecstasy that peaked when the giant screens at displayed Raila, on the sunroof of his vehicle surrounded by supporters.

Last rally

It was then announced that the Azimio leader was within the precincts of the stadium. That's all they needed to hear. They was a roar. Whistles were blown as the -- Firimbi Fest -- as the organisers had dubbed the last rally came alive. And whatever energy the emerging sun had sapped from them, Raila's entry replenished.

Raila had wanted to make his final submissions at the Nyayo National Stadium, but he must have found consolation in filling Kasarani, whose capacity is almost double that of Nyayo. Only a small sun-blasted patch of the stadium was unoccupied. The masses flooded the pitch and those who camped outside the arena would have crammed the terraces.

The Thika Superhighway emptied Raila's supporters into the sea of blue and orange that was Kasarani Stadium. They took their place on the terraces branded Vote Blue and Freedom is Here. He rallied his army, "Jeshi ya Baba", to go and vote. "The battle is hardest when victory is nearest," Raila would warn of an early celebration, urging the youth to show up to vote.

Raila has described the presidential race as a marathon, not a sprint. The race has seen him go up and down the rolling hills of Mt Kenya, to the seaside in the Coast, the manyatta-dotted plains of the Maasai land to concrete jungle of the cities. If he wins the election, he could return to Kasarani as the incoming Commander-in-Chief, as his allies refer to him.