LUOS SUFFER FROM THE ODINGA CREED.... THE BELIEF THAT ANYTHING “ODINGA IS GOOD”. Yesterday, that horde went on the rampage again in a form of impunity that this country cant stomach. The mere fact that some people had the temerity to boo and jeer as the function got underway was quite disrespectful. A presidential function has to be accorded the dignity it deserves. The presidency is an office of honour. Even if one is unhappy with the occupant, the office carries with it authority and symbolism that should never be sullied. Migori (& Luo Nyanza in general) is essentially an opposition zone, but that does not mean it is an enclave for a clique of people or group. In Luo Nyanza, all road leads to the Odinga shrine. Sycophancy and the politics of retrogression are the sole motivation for Luo politics. The kind of troublemakers we saw yesterday in Migori are often voices and hands for hire, paid to harass and demonise others. Who could have said it better than Eliud Owalo when he twitted... If you want to engage Luos politically, do it through one Raila Odinga. Any mischievous attempt to use Panya routes may be counterproductive. If you interrogate these events more keenly, you tend to relate these to the reason Raila Odinga is not a very easy candidate to sell beyond Luo Nyanza. Raila and his close allies sometimes behave like Gor Mahia fans. Throwing stones (not literally) over the least disagreement and worst of all they seem to never cede ground even when it is reasonable to do so. When they lose a match they stone people, when they win they celebrate by stoning people. Dont get me wrong. Gor Mahia as a football club is greatly admired across Kenya. It is a fact that there are some parts of Kenya where kids think Gor is the only football club in Africa! Yet people loathe the fans in equal measure. They are unruly and intolerant. The sense of entitlement that Gor Mahia supporters (mainly drawn from the Luo community) approach football games is the same mindset that Raila supporters approach politics. From my own and many perspectives Luo are sort of people with whom it their way or the highway. If you study Luo history, they are the only group I know of in Kenya who immigrated after political wrangles in Sudan. About 500 yrs ago, the Luo differed with their cousins in Sudan after fight between Luo chief and others. They came down south and finally settled along the Shores of Lake Victoria. Is rebellion in their genes? I dont know. The Bible says, The truth shall set us free. I bet it is time the people of Luo Nyanza faced the hard facts and lived with it. Poverty in Nyanza is induced by its leaders for their own political gains. Odinga Curse to the Luos. For as long as I can recall, Luo Nyanza poverty has always been a political abstraction. At its root is the divisive politics of the Odingas. During the early 1980s, Luo Nyanza was poor not because her people are lazy or frivolous. Nyanza was impoverished because of politics, pure and simple! Luo Nyanza is underdeveloped and poor as a result of cheap, petty, retrogressive politics and endless jealousy amongst leaders; Central Nyanza politicians are self-centred and have sidelined those from South Nyanza for many years. Just slightly before Independence, the Luo were marshaled for creation of an economic block under the aegis of Luo Thrift and Trading Company. The drive was a big success, not for the Luo, but for those who moved the agenda of Luo Thrift and Trading Company. That was slightly before and after Independence. In the early nineties, again, the Luo were moved under the aegis of some company that was fronting to buy the then moribund Molasses Plant. Again, like the Luo Thrift, this became a venture that put business, big business into the hands of the movers of this agenda. The drive was a big success, not for the Luo, but for those that moved this agenda. In the two cases, the Luo as a community was used as a door mat to enrich a cartel. The masses remained poor. Poverty is being used to subjugate Luos. They are being fed on hot air as their leaders scramble for food. The Luo are being kept perpetually on political rallies at the expense of development. Time has come for the Luo to self liberate and partake of the National Cake. Their leaders have been eating on their behalf and they have eaten for so long that they have forgotten that Luos are out waiting. For how long will Luo leaders use the Luo as trading and bargaining chips? The Luos must stop worshiping demi-gods in the name of powerful leaders in Luo Land. It is a pity that the Luo identity is being eaten to the core with maggots straight from the Jurassic era; a militia that has no inkling of what really takes it to the political arena; a posse so rotten such that it wishes to spread its malignant bacteria upon the face of the whole society.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 03:48:57 +0000