Luos should not let anyone to put them at loggerheads with government

Ballot boxes at Ruaraka constituency tallying centre at Stima Club on August 11, 2022. [Kelly Ayodi, Standard]

Sixty years after independence and despite having been given the first chance in 1963 and having six other opportunities, a Luo is yet to become president. Worse, since independence the Luo have never been in government peacefully for a full parliamentary term.

Unfortunately, the current Luo 'leadership' has remained fearful of discussing the reasons for this tragedy, even within closed doors, lest the truth overpowers and shames them. It is on record that at independence, the British colonial government offered a Luo an opportunity to become the first president.

He resolutely rejected the offer with such choice words as, "Kenyatta is our leader and teacher, how can we be more advanced than our teacher!" He led the Luo out of the Jomo Kenyatta government a year later. In 1978, Kenyatta died and President Daniel arap Moi, embraced the Luo back into government. But in less than four years, there was an attempted coup in which the main suspects were Luo.

The Luo again lost favour of the government and the youth matured, believing their number one enemy was the government. In 2002, Moi exited and was replaced by President Mwai Kibaki. The Luo again came back into government only to be led out two years later. Having exited the government and their leader losing the subsequent election, the future looked gloomy until a power-sharing arrangement was crafted after violent post-election protests.

A year later, small wrangles emerged, some revolving around things as mundane as protocol at public functions. The Luo practically became an opposition within the government, making Kibaki to silently back Uhuru Kenyatta against his coalition partner Raila Odinga.

Uhuru eventually became president and for five years the Luo watched from outside. A year into his controversial second term, Uhuru surprisingly extended a suspicious handshake to Raila. The handshake was to grant Raila an unsinkable ship to Canaan; the Azimio. As if to replay the 1963 scenario, Uhuru offered Raila the presidency on a silver platter. The whole government machinery, influence, resources and power were all mobilised for Baba to reach Canaan.

His opponent William Ruto, then DP, was mistreated, threatened, gagged and pushed to the limit, but he stood his ground.

Ahead of the polls, Baba began acting presidential and even read out part of his cabinet! At one function he was told; "this is your last function as an ordinary citizen". But Azimio sank with the high and mighty, more people than the legendary Titanic. The Luo have since learnt that the government is the biggest employer and business partner.

Unfortunately, in Homa Bay, the local leadership recently displayed the ancient mind-set of hostility to every government of the day to the detriment of the community. They have failed to wake up to the fact that Ruto is legally, morally and fairly in office. Any excuses anyone is propagating to cover their political nudity will not be allowed to pin the Luo down to poverty and ignorance so as to make them easy to manipulate.

The world over, power is taken, partly grabbed and partly won for there can never be an absolutely free and fair election. Minor illegalities and irregularities will always be there.

If elections were to be nullified on the basis of such, we would never have a valid election. It is worth noting that the more experienced Governor Peter Anyang Nyong'o queued at the airport to receive and host DP Rigathi Gachagua in Kisumu. No amount of excuses can explain why a two-month-old governor cannot stop everything and anything to welcome the head of state.