At a meeting of the Luo Union held at Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu in 1968, Tom Mboya, the charismatic Minister for Economic Development who was assassinated 55 years ago, complained to the elders how he had made numerous attempts to reconcile with his political nemesis Jaramogi Oginga Odinga to no success.

According to a record of the meeting Mboya lamented how the fallout that led to resignation of Jaramogi Oginga as vice-president in 1966, could have been avoided if the Luo Union had acceded to his request for a reconciliatory meeting in 1965.

Mboya’s desperation for reconciliation was driven by the fear that the Luo were isolating themselves from the rest of Kenya by following Odinga to the opposition KPU.

Mboya always saw Kenya as one. After all, his perception of Kenyan society had been shaped by the social setup in which he was born and brought up in. From the sisal plantations of Kilimambogo where he spent his early childhood playing with children from diverse ethnic backgrounds to the multicultural Nairobi where he began his career. In his work as a trade unionist and then as a politician, he escaped the shackles of tribalism and became more than anyone else in Kenya the symbol of one nation.

Definitely, if he was to come to life today, he would be pleased that a non-tribal Kenya which he had envisioned, is rapidly being shaped by a “tribeless” movement that speaks only one language: ‘Kenya’. What a coincidence that this is happening around the exact time he was assassinated by a lone gunman in downtown Nairobi on July 5, 1969. Mboya spent his life fighting tribalism and regionalism, two divisive elements that still bedevil African countries. In the years leading to his death he was particularly concerned about the direction the Luo people were taking. He wanted them to return to the government and unite with the rest of Kenya in Kanu. But this could only happen if he reconciled with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga

The two were bitter rivals from the 1950s when Mboya led the urban Luos and trade unionists while the latter agitated for the interest of his people outside the capital. When Mboya headed to the West, Odinga countered him by heading to the East. Their rivalry would later come to a head in 1966 following the Limuru Conference that abolished the position of deputy party leader held by Odinga and replaced it with eight vice-presidents representing every province in Kenya. Odinga saw this as an affront on his position and resigned from the government. Even though many commentators claim that new party structure was introduced by Mboya to tame Odinga, which is true to some extent, the main reason was to bring inclusivity in the top leadership of Kanu.

Following the resignation of Odinga, who went on to form KPU, Parliament made constitutional amendments that required all the 29 Kanu MPs who had followed him to the new party to seek new mandates in by-elections. Even though most parliamentarians vying on KPU were defeated, albeit unfairly, the party performed well in Luo Nyanza where its candidates defeated those of KANU. Odinga had just proven to the government how indispensable he was in Luo politics.

DNation dropcap: With Luos having confirmed their loyalty and love to Jaramogi, Mboya held a press conference in Kisumu where he warned members of the tribe not to isolate themselves because they risked lagging behind as other regions moved forward in terms of development. This was followed by a concerted effort spearheaded by him to unite Luos and bring them back to the government.

Apart from town hall meetings which he used to explain what the government was doing in the region, he was also reaching out to Odinga to reconcile with him for the sake of the community. At his request, around that time a meeting of the Luo Union was held at Ofafa Memorial Hall Kisumu, under the chairmanship of Dr William Ouko. Apart from the elders, others present were Mboya himself and cabinet ministers Argwings Kodhek and Samuel Ayodo. Even though the meeting was called with the agenda of discussing the unity and development of the community, minutes taken reveal it was dominated by concerns about Mboya-Odinga rivalry. Speakers were of the opinion that the community should unite and rejoin Kanu.

Shadrack Malo, an elder from Kano East complained that all the suffering the Luo people were undergoing was because of the rivalry between Mboya and Odinga. He suggested that the two leaders should reconcile and that Odinga should be asked to attend the next meeting so that their rivalry could be solved. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Argwings Kodhek called upon those present to support the government of President Kenyatta.

Mboya spoke last by first thanking everyone for attending the meeting. Addressing his rivalry between him and Odinga and the need for them to reconcile, he narrated how on one occasion in the mid-60s elders led by the then chairman of Luo Union had held a meeting to reconcile them. At the end of the meeting elders resolved that he and Odinga should hold hands and reconcile but Odinga refused.

“Magi gin weche mokan erecord ma ka poni ngato dwaro nenogi to inyalo yudone kuma ondikgie,” Mboya told the meeting. Loosely translated to “What I am saying here are recorded facts which can be accessed by anyone.” He also revealed how in 1965 he unsuccessfully begged the Chairman of Luo Union to convene a meeting to bring peace between him and Odinga. In his views such a reconciliatory meeting could have prevented the big fallout that resulted in Odinga resigning as vice president in 1966. He added that the fallout exposed the Luos to much suffering. He again called for another reconciliatory meeting in 1966 but this too never happened.

Mboya went on to tell the meeting that the best way to tell who between him and Odinga was on the wrong was for the elders to listen to both sides. He urged those present that the time was ripe for Luo elders to give the Luo community a political direction; whether the community should stay in the Kanu government or to move to the opposition KPU. Most of those at the meeting were for the idea of Odinga returning to the government for the sake of the unity of the country.

Driven by the desire of seeing Kenya moving forward together, Mboya never gave up on his attempts to reconcile with Odinga and bring him back to the government. About a week before his assassination, he reached out to Odinga’s private secretary, Collins Odinge. Apparently, he had also sent Tom Okello, the then-MP for Kisumu Rural, to persuade Odinga for a meeting, but Odinga was not really keen on meeting him.