Such is the pain that followers of Raila Odinga are dealing with both at personal and communal levels following the Supreme Court rulings. Such is the peculiar pain of the Kavirondo nation, especially the Luo nation as well as the marginalised parts of Kenya. Such is the pain of Raila, Mama Ida Odinga and their family. Such is the pain of those who have believed in Jakom’s course for the three decades he has been in the trenches and the corridors. Such is the pain of the millions who saw their future secured by Raila’s journey. Such is the pain that some of us feel after sacrificially giving towards this cause because we believed in this man: Raila Amolo Odinga.
The pursuits of Raila Odinga were never for self, else he would be the wealthiest Kenyan. His insistence on Canaan was for a just society. For that belief, he paid the ultimate price. For the desire of a better Kenya, he sacrificed cherished moments with his children in their formative years. He lost his eyesight in the dark cells of Nyayo Torture Chambers so that many generations may see the light of glorious days. He bore the brunt of hatred from those who barely knew him, just because he longed for a transformed nation. Raila was not the staunchest Christian, but if actions speak louder than words, then his actions always spoke Christianity fluently and loudly. His actions spoke love, compassion, empathy and affection.
Ultimately, Raila has paid the price of his good strong years, ‘lost’ to the struggles of a greater nation. Time that would have been spent caring for his adorable wife, celebrating the wins of his children and traveling with his grandchildren was traded for a better nation.
To the Kavirondo nation (the people around the lake), this is akin to the pain of a woman who sires children but loses them in quick successions at their prime:
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga
Thomas (Tom) Joseph Mboya
Henry Pius Masinde Muliro
Dr John Robert Ouko
George Moseti Anyona
Charles Michael George Argwings Kodhek
Michael Kijana Wamalwa
And now
Aluwo Rayila Amolo Odinga!
He, Raila, who survived the trenches when the rest departed. The valiant soldier who straddled our political space with nothing but a strong desire for a progressive nation. He who rose even to become Prime Minister, and just when Kenya made history of an incumbent President embracing and endorsing his arch-rival, the baton slipped off the hands of our greatest athlete!!!
We have seemingly lost the final chance to watch our fastest political athlete wowing the thronging crowd of democratic onlookers. I heard the cheers of that crowd quickly fade into chocking pain when the baton fell. Then the shocked Kavirondo crowd, in chorus, asked, ‘Are we children of a lesser God?!’
Because for them this was the closest they came to banishing systemic marginalization that had been orchestrated by previous governments. In an ethnocentric country, where patterns of development have pointed to swift growth in backyards of previous presidents, one would forgive the Kavirondo nation for believing that this was their closest chance, without which hope is eternally vanished.
You see, in a country that has balkanized and marginalized part of her citizenry for their strong voices over the years, the handshake between Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta was a glimmer hope. Hope for a forgotten generation. And indeed, when the roads in Nyanza and Western regions were built, expanded and improved tremendously during the handshake, it seemed as though God had finally remembered our forgotten people.
You’ll concur with them when they opine that Presidency or proximity to it is the surest ticket to development. Most believe that it is because of the handshake that they have reaped the fruits of government, even when devolution has attempted to bridge the gap of inequality.
Like the rest of our valiant sons who carried the aspirations of the community, this too was too near, yet too far!!! What a pain!
Our Kavirondo name stems from the Kalenjin word “Kap-Kirondo", meaning "The place of Reeds" denoting the reeds by the Lake Victoria. For a moment, it feels as though these reeds have choked our mightiest as he attempted to swim to the shores of nationhood.
Our people have borne this pain far too long, far too deep, far too broken. Won’t the future be kind to us? Won’t this pain cease? Won’t nature conspire for our good too? Or where do we go from here?
I may not know many things, but I know that Raila Odinga stood for an army of marginalized nations in Kenya, and that army weeps today for a dream that aborted.
Too near, yet too far!
Osiany is the CAS, Ministry of Industrialization and Trade
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