Elders, professionals want official apology from Mutahi Ngunyi

Mutahi Ngunyi

The Luo Council of Elders and professionals have demanded an official apology from political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi over alleged hate remarks targeting the community.

The leaders faulted the apology, in form of a goat, that Mr Ngunyi gave the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) boss Apollo Mboya last week, saying the latter does not represent the interests of the community.

They stated that the apology ought to have been delivered through the council, maintaining that they did not send Mr Mboya to act on its behalf.

The council’s Chairman Opiyo Otondi said Ngunyi was not genuine in his apology, terming it a mockery.

“This was a very serious matter because it was touching on our community but the way it was handled was very casual. We expected that the apology would be done through the leadership of the community,” he said.

Ethnic Hatred

He added: “The Government should deal with such utterances, which are likely to breed ethnic hatred and animosity. We insist that Ngunyi must respect the Luo community and its leaders.”

Luo Dialogue Initiative Chairman Odoyo Owidi said Luo custom does not allow apology in form of a goat.

“Even in the Bible, it is a calf or a lamb that could be offered as a sacrifice. The act of offering a goat to ask for forgiveness was itself wrong,” Mr Owidi said.

He said the hate remarks attributed to Ngunyi aggrieved the Luo community, not only Mboya, to whom the goat was offered.