By Anderson Ojwang
The age-long unity among the Luo community should now transition from only a political agenda to an economic one through the creation of wealth and employment opportunities.
The just concluded Piny Luo festival in Siaya, which brought community members across East and Central Africa, to showcase its socio-economic and political prowess, became a wake-up call for the community to dive into a new economic dispensation.
The message was capped by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who was the Chief Guest at the event, who challenged the community and its leadership to explore and exploit the four sectors of the economy to create wealth and employment opportunities.
“ I was invited to the Luo East Africa meeting by President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This unity is a good move and we envisage it for East and Central Africa to develop economically. You people are good, you play football, that is good. But we must be wealth creators.
It’s good to be in sports but we need to understand the east Africa market and its economy. I am a farmer, I am in agriculture, I look for market and Ugandan market is not enough.
I have seen several youths, I want to educate them on wealth and employment creation and where they come from. There is always a problem with the poor. They do not know where wealth comes from.
In Uganda, we have four sectors where wealth comes from and through it we are able to create employment. Wealth, where does wealth come from? The poor do not know where wealth comes from.
The four sectors that wealth comes from in Uganda are Agriculture, Business, Service, and Technology (Computers). Sports and hotels are service sectors among others.
People talk about employment and where does it come from? It comes from the wealth creators who employ people.
In Africa, I hear people talk about employment but they do not say where employment comes from. Employment comes from the wealthy.
The wealth is mine but I employ people and they get work. So you people, it is good you play football and we are happy. But you must remember about life. Life is not only about football or sports, we must create wealth in order to create employment.
So where do the wealth and employment opportunities come from? I have told you about the four sectors. In any sector that you venture into, you will be able to create wealth.
All these sectors require a market. The Kenyan market is not enough that is why we are discussing the East Africa market.
You need to understand the importance of the East Africa market; For instance, the United States of America (USA), has economic strength mainly because of the large market.
In their neighbourhood, there is Latin America. They have vast wealth but live in abject poverty. The reason is that they do not have an adequate market.
I cannot come here and fail to talk about economic dispensation and independence. I am a wealth creator back at home, I am in Agriculture and keep commercial livestock.
I am in dairy farming just like the Kenyan Maasai. I grow bananas. I have to look for a market. The Ugandan market helps me but it is not enough, that is why I am saying as East Africa, Let us unite to get a bigger market.
That is why I am grateful to witness the Luo festival, it is a vehicle to build a united East Africa and Central Africa,” he said. The poverty index in Nyanza, Kenya varies by the percentage of households below different income levels:
Percentage of poor households: 94.0%
Percentage of poorer households: 77.2%
Percentage of poorest households: 47.3%
Nyanza is one of the most deprived regions in Kenya, with poverty indices ranging from 38% to 49%. The region has seen a decline in formal sector and industrial activities, which has led to unemployment, poor education, and poverty.
The collapse of Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI) eventually led to the death of cotton farming in Nyanza which was one of the main revenue earners for the region.
Equally, the sugar cane sector has for the last four decades been on the death knell until the recent initiative by President Ruto that has witnessed a resurgence in the sector.
Matriarch and former Karachuonyo MP Mama Phoebe Asiyo said President Museveni’s advice was timely and that the community should use its unity for economic empowerment.
“The Piny Luo festival was a positive move but now we must translate it into an economic agenda to create wealth and riches for the community. It is time we dedicated our strength and knowledge to an economic agenda,” she said.
Mama Asiyo who spoke to Western Insight from the USA said the Luo unity had propelled the community to greater heights in politics and that it was time to usher the economic agenda in the unity to
make it wealth and employment creators.
Mama Asiyo challenged the governors, professionals and leaders from Nyanza to take up the leading role in the re-engineering of the region’s economic agenda for prosperity.
Raila recently declared that he had vacated Kenya’s political scene for Africa, where he contesting the African Union chairperson seat in an election that is scheduled for February this year.
After the fallout between the founding President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and his deputy the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the Luo community became marginalized by the subsequent government and became at the heart of the country’s opposition politics.
