• Born in October 1911, Jaramogi Odinga was a prominent political figure and one of Kenya’s freedom fighters who helped secure the country’s independence.
• A fierce Kenyatta critic, Jaramogi served as VP from December 12, 1964 to April 14, 1966 when he resigned and he remained a vocal opposition leader until his death.
Image: ANYANG NYONG'O
Saturday, January 20 will mark exactly 30 years since Kenya’s founding Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died.
His younger son, Azimio leader Raila Odinga has scheduled a memorial service to celebrate and honour his legacy and place in Kenya’s history.
Raila has invited renowned scholars, pan-Africanists, thought leaders and journalists to speak at the event to be held at the Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu.
“The event will be addressed physically and virtually by a stellar team from home and abroad, befitting the stature of Jaramogi the freedom fighter, the family man, the founding vice president, the businessman, the teacher, the farmer, the politician and the great statesman,” Raila said in a statement on Wednesday.
Born in October 1911, Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a prominent political figure and one of the leaders of Kenya’s freedom fighters who helped secure the country’s independence.
He was appointed minister for home affairs in 1963, and in 1964 became vice president under founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
A fierce Kenyatta critic, Jaramogi served as VP from December 12, 1964, to April 14, 1966, when he resigned and he remained a vocal opposition leader until his death.
During this time, he mentored many politicians, scholars and religious leaders who followed in his footsteps and held governments of the day accountable.
They include retired archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o, freedom fighter Mzee Gitu Kahengeri, a former councillor, women rights campaigner and politician Jael Mbogo, former politician and minister and ex-UNCTAD secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi and Siaya Governor James Orengo among others.
Governor Nyong’o will be the keynote speaker during the anniversary alongside Prof Michael Chege, a distinguished scholar in African studies.
“The annals of history in the genesis and evolution of modern nations only have a few visionary leaders who shaped the destiny of such nations at critical moments in history. In the case of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga will always stand tall among the nationalists who shaped the destiny of our nation,” Nyong’o said.
Other speakers at the event include John Kamau, journalist and PhD student, University of Toronto, Canada and Uganda’s former Foreign Affairs Minister and ex-UN Under Secretary General Dr Olara Otunnu.
“I’m glad to be in this and discuss the place of Jaramogi in Kenya’s history and his unfading legacy, lest we forget,” Kamau said.
Others expected to speak at the event are Prof David Throup, George Washington University and co-author of ‘Multi-Party Politics in Kenya’.
Prof Robert Maxon of West Virginia University and author of ‘Majimbo in Kenya’s Past: Federalism in the 1940s and 1950s’ will also be a guest speaker.
“I view speaking truth to power as an important Odinga legacy, and the courage to alter one’s political stance to meet the demands of a changing political landscape,” he said.
In sharing her views on Jaramogi, Mama Mbogo said, “Without Jaramogi Odinga, Kenya’s independence would not have been realized when it was. May his soul rest in peace.