KikuyusForChange

Today is 16 years since Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died, & the silence is amazing. I remember how many people I have head talking about this man as their mentor-he has on several occasions been referred to as the doyen (what does that mean exactly?) of Opposition politics, etc. He certainly is many things to many people, some good, some bad.

However, fundamentally everyone will agree that this man affected the politics of Kenya in a way very few others have done, & most of it was for good. So today, as KikuyusforChange, we share the piece written by his family in the media, as our small way of recognizing this man, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

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A dream of Kenya as One People, One Nation

Remembering Jaramogi Oginga Odinga

On January 21, 1994, Kenyans awoke to the sad news that Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, then leader of the parliamentary opposition, had passed away the previous evening, at the age of 83, at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu. The whole nation went into mourning, and people across the country began eulogising Jaramogi as “the best president we never had”.

Jaramogi’s remains were first flown back to his home in Nairobi, and from there he was taken by road on his final earthly journey, to his ancestral home in Bondo. Everyone wanted to say goodbye. All along the roadsides for hundreds of miles, people stood weeping as the funeral cortege – some three miles long – passed westwards from Nairobi. Thousands gathered in Nakuru and Kericho, where stops were made so that people could pay their last respects, before the cortege moved resolutely on towards Nyanza, where grief was profound.

Everyone in the nation knew that Jaramogi had been one of Kenya’s founding fathers, and that he had remained steadfast and true to the Kenyan Dream until the end of his life. For many years, his was a lone voice speaking out for the landless. From Independence, he had defended the rights of those affected by colonial policies – particularly people in Central Province, many of whom had been dispossessed of their land. And whatever was thrown at Jaramogi for his principled stand, he always soldiered courageously on, true to his ideals.

One of Jaramogi’s dearest dreams was the development of Kenya as one nation, one people – a nation that saluted diversity but remained strong and undivided by the tribal affiliations that in the end are only accidents of birth.

In 1958, speaking as an African Elected Member in the colonial government on a motion brought to the House by Tom Mboya, Jaramogi declared his support for the detained Kenyatta, at a time when many dared not speak Kenyatta’s name. Jaramogi’s remarks came during debate on ‘Convicts at Lokitaung Prison and Elsewhere’ – which included Kenyatta and his fellow detainees. The motion sought to allow visits by African Elected Members of LegCo to investigate claims of ill-treatment of prisoners, claims that had been dismissed by the colonial authorities as “fabrications”. During the debate in the House, Kenyatta and the others had been referred to as nothing more than common criminals.

Jaramogi was deeply angered by this. When he stood to speak, he said, “These people, before they were arrested, they were the political leaders of the Africans in this country, and the Africans respected them as their political leaders – and even at this very moment, in the heart of hearts of Africans, they are still the political leaders.”

There was mayhem in the House, with shouts of “Order! Order!” all round. Jaramogi was not deterred. Before the Speaker, Sir Ferdinand Cavendish-Bentinck, could stop him, Jaramogi went on to refer to “mistakes” made by the government, which were “hurting the feelings of the Africans”.

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was never afraid to stand up for what was right. He was an icon of integrity for the people of this land. We remember him today, on the 16th anniversary of his death, as always. We remember his courage, his teaching and his constancy. We revere his principled adherence to an ethical code whose cornerstones were truth, nationalism, democracy and social justice. There could be no greater memorial to his name than working together to achieve the ideals he held so dear.

Tags: Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenyatta