Key low and high moments of Jaramogi Oginga’s life
By K24 Editorial, January 20, 2024Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance leader Raila Odinga and members of his family today celebrated the 30th anniversary of the late Jaramogi Odinga Oginga.
Jaramogi died on January 20, 1994.
The 30th-anniversary fete for Kenya’s first Vice President was held in Kisumu and not at his rural home in Bondo as has been the norm.
Raila led the ceremony which began with a service at St Stephen’s ACK Milimani Church in Kisumu before the procession headed to Ofafa Memorial Hall along Kakamega Highway.
As we celebrate Jaramogi’s 30th anniversary, we highlight key low and high moments of his life.
Independence
Jaramogi was among the heroes who negotiated for Kenya’s independence with former colonial masters Britain at the Lancaster House.
The Lancaster House conferences were three meetings (1960, 1962, 1963) in which Kenya’s constitutional framework and independence were negotiated.
Following Kenya’s independence in 1963, Jaramogi became Kenya’s first Vice President while Jomo Kenyatta became the country’s first President.
KANU
Jaramogi was the founding member of the independence ruling party Kenya Africa National Union (KANU).
At independence, Kenya had two major political parties; KANU and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) which represented the interests of different ethnic groups.
KADU was formed to represent the interests of Kalenjin, Luhya, Somali, Maasai, Turkana, Samburu and other smaller ethnic groups against the imagined future dominance of the larger Luo and Kikuyu tribes that comprised the majority of KANU’s membership.
However, at independence, first President Jomo Kenyatta persuaded KADU to fold and join KANU in a bid to end ethnic tension and divisions in the young country that was Kenya.
The dissolution of KADU was orchestrated by the then Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Tom Mboya, the first Secretary General and a founding member of KANU, who followed orders from Kenyatta.
Communism
The founding fathers seemed to have found the magic bullet for tribalism following the KANU/KADU merger at independence.
However, the stubborn demon of tribalism returned only a few years after independence following power struggles between Kenyatta and his deputy Jaramogi.
As Vice President, Jaramogi did not agree with Kenyatta on a myriad of issues. During those years, the world was divided into two blocks in terms of economic ideologies – Capitalism and Communism.
Jaramogi forged closer ties with the Communist block (Soviet Union, China and others) while Kenyatta had a soft spot for the Capitalist block (US, UK and the Western world).
Kenyatta and Jaramogi’s differences led to the latter resigning as Kenya’s first Vice President and quitting KANU in 1966 to form the Kenya People’s Union (KPU).
Jaramogi’s exit from the government sparked ethnic tensions between Luos and Kikuyus, which has formed much of the distrust between the two communities to date.
Kisumu shootings
In 1969, the friction between Jaramogi and Kenyatta played out bad as Kenya’s first president visited Kisumu – the political bedrock of his fiercest political rival.
Kenyatta was in Kisumu to open the New Nyanza General Hospital, commonly known as Russia Hospital by locals. The hospital is currently called Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).
The hospital’s construction was funded by the Soviet Union and the fact that Kenyatta was in Kisumu to launch it was seen as belittling Jaramogi due to his Russian connection.
At the launch ceremony, Kenyatta and Jaramogi verbally accused each other and locals booed the President leading to a deadly altercation.
At least 11 people were killed and dozens were injured in riots as police opened fire at locals who stoned Kenyatta’s convoy.
Jaramogi was arrested following the melee in Kisumu.
He was detained along with other KPU members for 18 months until the government made the decision to free him on March 27, 1971.
Jaramogi’s political life was curtailed even after his release until Kenyatta’s death in August 1978.
Government job
Kenyatta’s successor Daniel Arap Moi appointed Jaramogi as chairman of the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board.
However, Jaramogi didn’t stay in the job for long. He soon became a critic of Moi’s regime and even attempted to register a political party in 1982, but the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act, 1982 (which made Kenya a de jure single-party state), foiled his plans.
Moi reined in Jaramogi and George Anyona who sought to register a socialist opposition party in 1982, striking back using the law he had passed to criminalize competitive politics and criticism of his leadership.
The government introduced Amendment Act, Number 7 of 1982 to Parliament, which introduced Section 2(A) transforming Kenya into a de jure one-party state by introducing the detention laws which had been suspended in 1978.
Following the failed coup of 1982 against Moi’s government, Jaramogi was placed again under house arrest in Kisumu.
Multiparty democracy
The failed coup only reinforced Moi’s urge to consolidate power and become more authoritarian. The government amended the constitution twice to cripple oversight authorities such as the Judicial Services Commission and the Attorney General’s office by removing their security tenure.
However, in 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule under KANU.
Moi was forced to restore democracy as Western backers were no longer tolerant of dictatorship following the collapse of the Soviet Union marking the end of the Cold War.
Western countries for three decades tolerated tyrants out of fear that they would turn to the Soviet Union if not supported.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the winds of democracy started sweeping over many African countries and Kenya was among the nations that enjoyed what is termed as ‘second liberation’ after independence.
On December 10, 1991, President Moi allowed for the restoration of a multiparty democracy by repealing Article 2A of the Constitution, which had made KANU the only authorized political party in Kenya.
Following the restoration of democracy in Kenya, Jaramogi co-founded and became the interim chairman of the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD).
On October 28, 1992, Moi dissolved Parliament, five months before the end of his term. As a result, preparations for the General Election began.
General Elections were held on December 29, 1992.
FORD split before the 1992 General Elections. Jaramogi himself vied for the presidency on a Ford-Kenya ticket but finished fourth in the race.
Moi won the election on a KANU ticket with 1.9 millions votes, Kenneth Matiba of FORD-Asili came second with 1.4 million votes, Mwai Kibaki of the Democratic Party (DP) was third with 1.05 million votes while Jaramogi emerged fourth with 944,197 votes.
Jaramogi died at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu in January 1994 – barely two years after the General Election.