Mombasa Luo elders call for unity ahead of Ker Otondi’s burial

By Tobby Otum

Luo Elders in Mombasa have called for calm as succession politics threaten to split the Council of Luo Elders following the death of chairman Ker Willis Otondi. 

Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday night as he led a delegation of over 300 community members for the burial of Otondi on Saturday in Nyahera, Kisumu, the chairman of the Mombasa Luo Council of Elders Obara Kings called on the elders jostling for the position to be calm. 

Obara said that the election of the Ker is similar to the election of a pope in the Catholic Church where about nine elders representing different parts of the Luo land meet at the hills of Got Ramogi and stay there for three days until they agree on who will lead the community. 

Ker Otondi passed away on February 17, 2023 at the age of 98. 

“Even before the death of Ker Otondi, we have always had a splinter group led by Mzee Nyandiko. But what we can urge them for now is to be calm so that we give our Ker the befitting burial he deserves,” said Obara.

He said that according to Luo traditions, the Ker is a wise and very learned elder able to solve any issue arising in the community.

Obara added that no one can wake up one day and install himself as the council chair without the approval of the elders.

“The Ker can be compared to Nabongo Mumia of the Uganda people or the chair of Njuri Ncheke from our Agikuyu people, he commands respect and yields a lot of power within the community,” he said.

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Elder Nyandiko Ong’adi has for the last decade led a splinter group refusing to recognize the late Otondi as the chair of the Luo Council of Elders.

Ong’adi has in several instances alleged that he is the bona fide chair of the Luo Council of Elders maintaining that the late Otondi was a political appointee of ODM leader Raila Odinga during his tenure as Kenya’s Prime Minister.

Obara also weighed in on the visit by some ODM elected legislators to President William Ruto at State house Nairobi last month that didn’t go well with the party.

He said that the MPs who went to state house betrayed ODM and are traitors to the party.

“Baba (Raila) is the ODM party and Azimio leader, all those elected under Azimio ticket are under baba and as such it is wrong if they go to state house without his permission”

“If the president comes to Nyanza, they are free to welcome him, but not going to state house for tea behind baba’s back,” he said.

Obara and the Mombasa Luo delegation are expected to attend the burial on Saturday in Nyahera.

The caravan of six buses sponsored by Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir was flagged off by the outgoing Chief officer department of Public Health Pauline Oginga.

Nassir is expected to join the team in Kisumu on Friday.

“The elders held a meeting with the governor and requested him to support them attend the burial and the governor agreed and that is why we are here to flag off the convoy,” said Oginga.

Oginga called for Luo unity in Mombasa as she called on the community members to rally behind Nassir’s leadership in the county.

The community was sharply divided in the lead up to last year’s August general election with several splinter groups emerging to support different political camps.

“Let us continue with the unity we have begun, it is important that we talk to each other and not at each other.

“Mombasa is an ODM zone and baba’s bedroom. If we split, where will he enter when he comes to Mombasa?” Oginga posed.

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