ENDING THE DECADES OF LIMURU CONFERENCE GHOST, RAILA AND PS OMOLLO LEAD THE WAY

By Anderson Ojwang
 
The Luo community could be walking into an interesting time in the future where age-old rivalries and mistrust have been buried, and a rebirth of the community’s unity is in place.
 
The negative tags labelled against opponents viewed to read from different political scripts have now been buried, and the ones previously seen as ‘enemies’ can share the table and chart the destiny of the community together.
 
The ghost of the 1966 Limuru Conference that split the Luo community into two political blocs, pitting the then Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga against then KANU Secretary Tom Joseph Mboya, has finally been laid to rest.
 
In Odinga’s camp were Dennis Akumu, Achieng Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Munyua Waiyaki, among others.
 
Odinga had political control of mainly Central Nyanza, which included the present Kisumu and Siaya counties.
 
Mboya drew his support base from Southern Nyanza, mainly Homa Bay and Migori counties, where he checkmated Odinga’s influence.
 
In Mboya’s camp was Karachuonyo MP Omolo Agar, who was very instrumental at the Limuru Conference in charting a new political dispensation for the party.
 
Elija Omollo Agar was born in 1929 in Karachuonyo, Southern Nyanza. An Indian-trained economist, he was Kenyatta’s point man in the South Nyanza region. He was the first MP to represent Karachuonyo Constituency.
 
Both leaders introduced education airlifts, with Mboya offering scholarships to the USA. Among the beneficiaries were Barack Hussein Obama Snr, the father of former USA President Barack Obama, Nobel Prize award winner the late Prof Wangari Maathai, among others.
 
Odinga offered scholarships to the East, mainly Russia, which enabled several Kenyans to pursue their education.
 
The rivalry between Mboya and Odinga split the community into two blocs and contributed to the marginalisation of the community after the assassination of Mboya in July 1969.
 
After Mboya’s death, Odinga assumed full control of Luo leadership to date, but most of Mboya’s allies were never integrated into his fold and were often treated with suspicion.
 
During the conference, Odinga and his team – Bildad Kaggia, Munyua Waiyaki, Dennis Akumu – considered the party’s left wing/radicals at the time, called for a break in the conference due to the ambush by Mboya with a different election agenda to discuss changes to the KANU constitution.
 
Mboya and Agar proposed the creation of eight Vice Presidents, one per province. According to their plan, Omollo Agar was to support Lawrence Sagini from Kisii to become the KANU Vice President for Nyanza, edging Jaramogi out.
 
As soon as Odinga and his team left to consult, Mboya rallied his troops and, with a pre-planned list, slotted Vice Presidents in each province.
 
After the conference, Agar was involved in a road accident that confined him to a wheelchair.
 
The last time Omollo Agar was seen in public was when he was wheeled to Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu to mourn Argwings Kodhek, who had died in a suspicious car accident in Nairobi in 1968.
 
Internal Security and Administration Permanent Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo is the great-grandson of Omollo Agar, while the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, through his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), has remained the main determinant of the community’s politics.
 
The soft-spoken Omollo, despite having been appointed by President William Ruto into his administration, has never antagonised Raila and has become one of the key pillars in the broad-based government.
 
Omollo is currently acceptable in the Odinga family and the wider ODM spectrum, where leaders and party supporters easily identify with him and his projects.
 
During the burial of Mama Phoebe Asiyo in Karachuonyo, Raila called for the honouring of the heroes, and among them were Omolo Agar, Ojijo Oteko, Paul Mboya, Gogo Ochok, among others.
 
Omollo enjoys a cordial relationship with the Odingas, including Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, who views his approach as accommodative and not antagonistic.
 
MPs from Nyanza led by Sam Atandi, Opondo Kaluma, Jared Okello, Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o, among others, have been supportive of Omollo and defended him from critics.
 
Atandi recently said, “The government is only bad if you are not part of it. If you are outside, you don’t have anybody who is representing your interest in that government, that government does not talk to you, that government is bad. But the moment you have your people inside – the way John Mbadi, Raymond Omollo, my brother Opiyo Wandayi – the government cannot be bad, the government now is good.”
 
Atandi said they would rally behind the now former ODM members who joined the government so that they can deliver their mandate.
 
“The way Baba said he has sent experts into the executive, we want to give you the support so that you can show the expertise you can produce. I trust the leadership of Raila Odinga and his wisdom for allowing our two brothers, John Mbadi and Opiyo Wandayi, to join Cabinet. We are going to rally behind them,” he said.
 
Another MP noted that it will now be easier to rectify any mistakes and have the President address their issues.
 
“If one of us is in government, when there is a mistake, we just call him to tell the President to rectify,” he said.
 
Jalang’o wrote on his Facebook page,
 
“Salute to a True Public Servant – PS Raymond Omollo
Just had the pleasure of catching a moment with PS Raymond Omollo—a leader whose impact speaks louder than any title.
From strengthening national security to empowering communities, his commitment to service is unmatched. What stands out most is his humility, clarity of purpose, and unwavering dedication to making Kenya safer and stronger.
This selfie may be simple, but the respect I have for his work runs deep. Thank you, PS Omollo, for leading with integrity and vision.”