By Anderson Ojwang
Retracing the Luo socio-cultural and economic values is a cornerstone to the community’s future survival and relevance to new emerging dispensations.
That is why Piny Luo was conceptualized in Pathola, Uganda, during the installation of Ker of the Pathola to foster unity among the various Luo-speaking groups in Africa, Australia, and other parts of the world.
That is how Piny Luo was born in Kenya. The first event was held in Homa Bay in 2023, and the most recent was held in Siaya in December 2024, which brought community representatives from various parts of Africa.
The clarion call for Piny Luo is about Luo’s social- cultural and economic identity in the present and future generations.
Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr Mathews Owili says the Piny Luo initiative is a noble one that aims to spur the socio-economic and cultural growth of the community.
“The Luo community is diverse and we want to bring that diversity as a tool to create and recreate our social, cultural and economic agenda. It’s about setting an agenda through which we can pass over our practices to the next generations to come, ” he says.
Dr Owili says that by retracing the Luo identity and redefining the association, it would be possible and easy for the Luos across the various divides and spheres to help one another.
“We want to create the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood in Luos as a weapon to economic emancipation. We must walk and wake up to start our economic journey.
If you look at our history of migration, Luo as a community was socially, culturally and economically endowed. That is the journey we want to recreate for now and in the future,” he says.
He says the committee that oversaw the recent Siaya Piny Luo festival was working on a report and a framework to develop the community’s socio-economic and cultural blueprint.
“We want to make the PinyLuo an annual cultural event just like the Maa, Turkana, and Marakwet among others and use the event to educate the public of our values and practices,” he says.
Dr Owili said the recent event witnessed the presence of President William Ruto, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga gracing the occasion.
‘“We had various Luo elders and leaders from Africa and other parts of the world . This was an important journey and now we have embarked on a mission to in future send teams to visit our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world to foster our unity,’’ he says.
President Museveni at the function said the age-long unity among the Luo community should now transit from only a political agenda to an economic one through the creation of creation and employment opportunities.
Museveni who was the Chief Guest at the event, 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 markets and the 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 it comes 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 does the wealth and employment opportunities come from? I have told you about the four sectors. In any sector that you venture in, 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 African market.
You need to understand the importance of the East Africa market; For instance, the United States of America (USA), they have economic strength mainly because of the large market.
In their neighborhood, there is Latin America. They have vast wealth but they live in abject poverty. The reason being 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 help 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.
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 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.
