LUO POLITICS AND RAILA ODINGA SUCCESSION
First and foremost, ladies and Gentlemen, help me congratulate H.E William Samoei Ruto.
The next Luo frontier is without heir.
Babu Owino is young.
Orengo is old.
Anyang Nyong'o is old.
Kidero is vanquished.
Jaramogi gone.
Tom Mboya gone.
Robert Ouko gone.
Raila Odinga has exited.
This electoral lose of Raila Odinga is a communal lose.
Make no mistake, Luos have long suffered the brunt of opposition for the last 60 years and are staring another 20 years from government.
The Grand Coalition assuaged their gains, but it didn't right the historical injustices that shuttered their political dreams, assassinated their sons and made Luos carry the heavy burden of keeping each succeeding government accountable.
Uhuru Kenyatta understood this generational Luo debt, which in earnest he wanted to repay, but it has come back to him with heavy costs on his legacy.
It was Jaramogi who refused to ascend to power in 63 opting to have Jomo reign.
Jomo then used Mboya to fight Jaramogi. Mboya then later assassinated.
It was until 92, at the advent of multiparty politics that the deferred dream of 63, 30 years later, that Old Jaramogi attempted his last shot unsuccessfully.
Raila Odinga has epitomized that dream, in the last 5 attempts.
Some of my friends like Fwamba NC Fwamba, Tim Wanyonyi, Aladwa, supported Raila, not because they believed there was 6K free money every end month for idly doing nothing.
But they only wanted Raila to rule, even so, for 5 years, to correct the historical deficit in our political balance sheet.
Today, a community's pride is crushed to naught.
Within hearts, lingers that one question- Where do Luo Nation move from here?
What next for the tribe without Raila in 2027?
Had Raila been any younger, there was another chance to fight again.
This sense of lose can only be equated to a mother's lose of their only surviving child, or lose of their uterus.
Its hard to start giving birth again, to see the child grow, for another 20 years perhaps, until he becomes a man.
That is a generation away.
I'll be 56, with grandchildren maybe, in the next 20 years.
A cruel joke is said of it being easy for a Luo to be US President than be a Kenyan President.
May this day speed up & come.
For now, at a National platform, the Luos must temporarily seek refuge under Kalonzo who has selflessly been a true friend of the Luo.
Kalonzo must be groomed by the retired Raila, with the promise that he Kalonzo at the exit of his presidency in 2037 or 42, if God so wills, must groom a Luo heir.
At the micro level, which is more realistic, urgent and within their reach, the Luos MUST jealously protect and make devolution work.
Right from the Governors to the MCAs, Luos must make their devolved affairs one with which even without the Presidency, it would be possible to outmatch mismanaged counties that enjoy the Presidency.
Devolution, in the short run, 20 years perhaps, must work in Luo counties.
No need to burn roads or scare away investors because nobody may be around to protect the community's interests at the National level, for at least the next decade.
Am feeling worried for The Luo Nation with no one left to succeed Baba Odinga.
