NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 6 – ODM Party Leader Oburu Oginga Odinga has moved to correct what he termed long-standing distortions about the political ideology and economic philosophy of his late father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga—one of Kenya’s foremost independence leaders.
Speaking during the burial of his younger sister Beryl Achieng Odinga on Saturday, Oburu used his tribute to deliver a detailed historical clarification, insisting Jaramogi has for decades been wrongly cast as a communist.
“Jaramogi was a businessman. He taught the Luo to save and trade [and] was never a communist,” Oburu told mourners gathered at the family’s Kango Ka Jaramogi home in Bondo.
“He only admired the Chinese communal model because it looked like the African extended family way of life.”
Oburu recounted that their father established early financial and cooperative institutions long before entering national politics.
“Jaramogi started the Luo Thrift and Trading Corporation in 1947, and later the Luo Union in 1952. He was teaching our people that you borrow, you trade, you repay, and you grow,” he said.
Pro-trade stance
He emphasized that these models were rooted in entrepreneurship and community investment—not communist doctrine.
“People crowned him with all sorts of titles, but the truth is Jaramogi didn’t know anything about communism,” Oburu added.
“He liked the Chinese way because it resembled our African communal relationships—but he believed in capital, in business, in growth.”
The remarks came during an emotionally heavy ceremony for Beryl, who died just weeks after the family buried former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Oburu, speaking at length about their upbringing, told mourners he had personally babysat Beryl and watched her grow into the warm, generous woman being celebrated.
“She was a very buoyant baby. I always knew when she was about to cry,” he recalled.
“She raised so many of our family members, including my own son, Jaoko, whom she educated all the way to higher school.”
A choir of dozens of young people Beryl had mentored performed a Zimbabwean hymn—an emotional moment Oburu said captured her lifelong generosity.
‘No vacuum in ODM’
Despite the grief, Oburu used the platform to call for unity within ODM, dismissing claims of internal confusion following Raila’s death.
“There is no vacuum in ODM,” he said. “Raila left big shoes, and I have been given those shoes. I am sitting there.”
He cautioned party officials against fuelling succession debates.
“Honourable Osotsi, don’t say you are going to sit down to arrange. What are you going to arrange again?” he asked.
The burial was attended by several political figures, including Kalonzo Musyoka and Eugene Wamalwa, underscoring decades-long ties between the Odinga family and other political networks.
Oburu also recalled how Raila and the late Kijana Wamalwa built their political relationship during their days lecturing at the University of Nairobi, later shaping Ford Kenya’s leadership structure.
But he stressed the day was not for politics.
“We are deeply hurt. We will really miss our sister Beryl,” he said.
Oburu’s historical clarification added a new dimension to the day’s reflections, reaffirming the Odinga family’s economic legacy while dismantling long-held misconceptions surrounding Jaramogi.
As the family continues to grieve the deaths of Raila and Beryl within one month, Oburu closed his tribute with a rallying call—both familial and political:
“Let us stand with our party. Let us protect our unity. And let us honour the truth of our history.”
