Fidel Odinga Is Dead!

[b6k]

nairobiexposed.blogspot.com/2015/01/breaking-raila-son-fidel-odinga-is-dead.html?m=1

May he RIP...

[Horth]

Hasn't been confirmed yet but it's all over Kenyan social media since early this morning.

I seriously hope it's just a very very bad rumor.

[b6k]

Jan 4, 2015 10:21:58 GMT 3 Horth said:

Hasn't been confirmed yet but it's all over Kenyan social media since early this morning.

I seriously hope it's just a very very bad rumor.

Horth, it's been scrolling on NTV, KTN, Citizen tickers for about an hour now. Robert Alai broke the news as early as 9 AM followed by Gitobu Imanyara. Fidel is gone...

More details here:

mpasho.co.ke/2015/01/developing-story-fidel-odinga-dead/

[Horth]

I very rarely watch TV.

But you're right I see now it's been confirmed: Raila's son Fidel Odinga is dead

Horrible news.

My deepest condolences to Raila and his family.

[b6k]

Jan 4, 2015 11:08:54 GMT 3 Horth said:

I very rarely watch TV.

But you're right I see now it's been confirmed: Raila's son Fidel Odinga is dead

Horrible news.

My deepest condolences to Raila and his family.

All other reports have been saying he was found dead at his house/bed with some adding "after a night out with friends". That discrepancy is even noted by the first comment in The Star which is the only report, so far, saying he was rushed to Nairobi Hospital by his wife at 1 AM. What gives?

[Horth]

"I guess rumors are more exciting than the truth."

Venus Williams

[jakaswanga]

This is a blow from hell for the family. Some african people then say --the goat has eaten the grass from my head. The death of a child is a genuine parent's worst nightmare. Let us hope life has prepared Raila and Ida to deal with what life can serve. And does not life serve them cold.
Hearfelt condelences, Jakom.

[b6k]

Jan 4, 2015 11:27:39 GMT 3 Horth said:

"I guess rumors are more exciting than the truth."

Venus Williams

Rumors? The Star is the only mainstream media source that is reporting different "facts".

Here's Citizen:

Fidel Odinga is dead. The first born son to CORD leader Raila Odinga died in unclear circumstances on Saturday night.
Fidel was found dead at his Karen home, Nairobi.
Police are investigating the cause of death.
A group of Members of Parliament and Senators trooped to Raila's home on receiving the news of the death.
Fidel was born in 1973 and was the first child to Raila and Ida Odinga.
Fidel had a 2 year old son with his wife.
More to follow.
By Maureen Murimi

www.citizennews.co.ke/mobile/news/2012/local/item/25417-fidel-odinga-is-dead

Here's the Standard's more detailed take:

CORD leader Raila Odinga’s son Fidel passes on
By Cyrus Ombati

Fidel Odinga, son of former Prime Minister Raila Odingahas been found dead in his Karen home, Nairobi in unclear circumstances. Police are investigating cause of death of the youthful businessman-cum politician.

Police say preliminary findings show Fidel had been out Saturday night before he came home early Sunday morning. It's not clear what caused the death. A group of Members of Parliament and Senators trooped to Raila's home on receiving the news of the death.

Officers handling the case say they want to know where he was last night and those he was with.

In the meantime leaders from across political divide have started sending messages of condolences to the Odinga family.

Machakos County Governor Alfred Mutua posted on Facebook page “My condolences to the family of Hon. Raila Odinga for the loss of my friend Fidel. He was such a lovely chap.

We chatted a few months ago and planned that come this January, he would bring some investors to visit me in Machakos.”

See Also: Glorious moments for Kenya in 2014
Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohammed posted “My Sincere Condolences to Ida and Raila Odinga on the passing on of their Son,Fidel.My thoughts and prayers are with you and your Family at this moment of great sadness and grief.May the Almighty God rest his Soul in eternal peace."

www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/?articleID=2000146710&story_title=CORD%20leader%20Raila%20Odinga%E2%80%99s%20son%20Fidel%20passes%20on

Seems to me The Star may be the one peddling rumors...

[Horth]

Jan 4, 2015 11:50:19 GMT 3 b6k said:

Rumors? The Star is the only mainstream media source that is reporting different "facts".

Here's Citizen:

Fidel Odinga is dead. The first born son to CORD leader Raila Odinga died in unclear circumstances on Saturday night.
Fidel was found dead at his Karen home, Nairobi.
Police are investigating the cause of death.
A group of Members of Parliament and Senators trooped to Raila's home on receiving the news of the death.
Fidel was born in 1973 and was the first child to Raila and Ida Odinga.
Fidel had a 2 year old son with his wife.
More to follow.
By Maureen Murimi

www.citizennews.co.ke/mobile/news/2012/local/item/25417-fidel-odinga-is-dead

Here's the Standard's more detailed take:

CORD leader Raila Odinga’s son Fidel passes on
By Cyrus Ombati

Fidel Odinga, son of former Prime Minister Raila Odingahas been found dead in his Karen home, Nairobi in unclear circumstances. Police are investigating cause of death of the youthful businessman-cum politician.

Police say preliminary findings show Fidel had been out Saturday night before he came home early Sunday morning. It's not clear what caused the death. A group of Members of Parliament and Senators trooped to Raila's home on receiving the news of the death.

Officers handling the case say they want to know where he was last night and those he was with.

In the meantime leaders from across political divide have started sending messages of condolences to the Odinga family.

Machakos County Governor Alfred Mutua posted on Facebook page “My condolences to the family of Hon. Raila Odinga for the loss of my friend Fidel. He was such a lovely chap.

We chatted a few months ago and planned that come this January, he would bring some investors to visit me in Machakos.”

See Also: Glorious moments for Kenya in 2014
Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohammed posted “My Sincere Condolences to Ida and Raila Odinga on the passing on of their Son,Fidel.My thoughts and prayers are with you and your Family at this moment of great sadness and grief.May the Almighty God rest his Soul in eternal peace."

www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/?articleID=2000146710&story_title=CORD%20leader%20Raila%20Odinga%E2%80%99s%20son%20Fidel%20passes%20on

Seems to me The Star may be the one peddling rumors...

Whoa, chillax man.

I wasn't suggesting that his death is a rumor, a fact I even acknowledged.

I was simply responding to the discrepancies you queried i.e.:

All other reports have been saying he was found dead at his house/bed with some adding "after a night out with friends". That discrepancy is even noted by the first comment in The Star which is the only report, so far, saying he was rushed to Nairobi Hospital by his wife at 1 AM. What gives?

Rumors are all over social media on where exactly he passed away, whether he was poisoned, etc.



Are we good?

[b6k]

Horth, my bad. I misunderstood your quote about rumors...

Jan 4, 2015 11:39:09 GMT 3 jakaswanga said:

This is a blow from hell for the family. Some african people then say --the goat has eaten the grass from my head. The death of a child is a genuine parent's worst nightmare. Let us hope life has prepared Raila and Ida to deal with what life can serve. And does not life serve them cold.
Hearfelt condelences, Jakom.

Jakaswanga, tough break for the Odinga family. Can anyone really be prepared for such a tragedy? This is one of those curve balls that life hurls at you that no one can really see coming.

[abdulmote]

No parent can ever prepare for a sudden death of their seemingly healthy child.

Death, however painful its outcome, is a natural event that must face the living.

My sympathies, empathy and condolences to Railas.

[mank]

So tragic. So sad. I wish the family the strength of heart to deal with the pain and emptiness that's brought by the tragedy, and a quick revelation of what caused the death.

[abdulmote]

"I remember when we were growing up and our father was detained. Children were often advised by their parents not to play with us. (Raila and his family were considered pariahs, rebels and anti-Kanu who you needed to keep a distance from). My brother loved football and because there was nobody allowed to play with us, he recruited me as a footballer and taught me how to be a goal-keeper".

Read more at: www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000146961/fidel-was-the-glue-that-bonded-our-family-together-says-sister-rosemary-odinga?articleID=2000146961&story_title=fidel-was-the-glue-that-bonded-our-family-together-says-sister-rosemary-odinga&pageNo=1

[mwalimumkuu]

My condolences to Raila family. It is indeed a very sad moment for the Odingas. I personally did not know Fidel and never met him, but I have heard many things about him. Of the many things I heard, two are almost indisputable: that he was a down-to-earth young man who respected all and cared less about one's background and ethnicity. He made friends everywhere and even married a non Kenyan after divorcing one of Kamale's many sisters.

Secondly and more importantly, he was the next in line, and maybe the only hope in the perpetuation of the Odinga dynasty and political influence in Luo Nyanza going into the next generation. His demise therefore casts a dark shadow on the Odinga family's and is a major loss. That they chose to bury him at Jaramogi's home and not his father's home is quite telling. Fare thee well Fidel, hopefully we'll meet in the next world.

~~ Mwalimumkuu @nyumbakubwa ~~

[kelly]

Jan 7, 2015 7:51:28 GMT 3 mwalimumkuu said:

... That they chose to bury him at Jaramogi's home and not his father's home is quite telling...

~~ Mwalimumkuu @nyumbakubwa ~~

It is only telling for those who do not or choose not to understand the Luo culture and traditions...there is nothing telling there...

[podp]

Jan 7, 2015 12:11:37 GMT 3 kelly said:

Jan 7, 2015 7:51:28 GMT 3 mwalimumkuu said:

... That they chose to bury him at Jaramogi's home and not his father's home is quite telling...

~~ Mwalimumkuu @nyumbakubwa ~~

It is only telling for those who do not or choose not to understand the Luo culture and traditions...there is nothing telling there...

The widow’s prospective inheritor (sing. jater, pl. joter) sleeps in the widow’s house while she is visiting her natal home. When the widow returns, she cooks the meat she brought back. The widow and her inheritor eat the meat. They engage in sexual intercourse that night, and the man must prove that he is a real inheritor. Then, the inheritor starts building their new house, helped by the widow.

A widow too old to have sex selects a man who is about her age. When she returns from her natal home, her inheritor prepares a fireplace for cooking. She cooks and they eat together. They spend the night without sex. But the inheritor must keep inside the house his belongings. This is done so that visitors may know that the old man and woman stay together and love each other. With a young widow, it is practically impossible for any man to inherit her and not have sex.

If a wife died, the widower follows the mourning taboos only when she was the first wife. In that event, the husband takes his children to the deceased’s parents. They stay one night and return the following day. The children are given meat or a hen by their grandparents.

jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/18-3&4/18-3&4%20213-228.pdf

it is unpolite for the above to occur at RAOs homestead but very ok at Jaramongi's place as both (Jaramogi and Fidel) are 'age-mates'

[jakaswanga]

Jan 7, 2015 7:51:28 GMT 3 mwalimumkuu said:

Secondly and more importantly, he was the next in line, and maybe the only hope in the perpetuation of the Odinga dynasty and political influence in Luo Nyanza going into the next generation. His demise therefore casts a dark shadow on the Odinga family's and is a major loss..

~~ Mwalimumkuu @nyumbakubwa ~~

'Oh!? so you are not a republican!?' My brother spat sarcastically at me, reminding me of what I had written once upon a time, thus:

Monarchism would by protocol dictate the genetical line. But it is ambition that dictates real politics. Therefore, in the absence of a front-runner by achievement, and the absence of an Odinga the calibre of Raila, the succession reverts to intrigue. Court intrigues. The battle to be the anointed one. This battle has even deflected concentration from the priority at hand: the 2012 presidential elections.

Read more: jukwaa.proboards.com/thread/6276#ixzz3O9NmhBW9

'Keep your crocodile tears to yourself man!' the son of my mother rounded on me.

I did not like the sarcasm in the genuine ring of the tone of my mother's son, so I decided to match him up. 'Hypocrisy need not be the monopoly of you vile monarchists! Historically speaking, we republicans have never been found lacking in skulduggery! -Remember Mengistu Haile Mariam, referring to Haile Salassie as a living god even as he was commissioning a toilet whose neck would be the divine man's jaw?

The final confrontation between the aged and frail Emperor and the young and robust army men was like a scene from a Verdi opera. Haile Selassie scolded and insulted the officers as insolent, and they, with mounting ire, decided on the spot to take him to a military camp rather than to another palace. And on the way, he was jeered by crowds yelling: "Thief! Thief!"

His Imperial Majesty the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Haile Selassie I, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, had ruled his ancient realm as a medieval autocrat. Haile Selassie, the last emperor in the 3,000-year-old Ethiopian monarchy, ruled for half a century before he was deposed by military coup

henceforth, the new republican despot Mengistu Holy Mariam would flush his bodily excreta down the former god's throat, entombed in toilet system!

Dynasties with no loyalty to meritocracy are historically a sad end.

On 21 September, the fall of the monarchy was officially declared, and the National Convention became the legal authority of France. The royal family was re-styled as the non-royal "Capets". Preparations for the trial of the king in a court of law began.[145]
Charged with undermining the First French Republic, Louis was separated from his family and tried in December. He was found guilty by the Convention, led by the Jacobins who rejected the idea of keeping him as a hostage. However, the sentence did not come until one month later, when he was condemned to execution by guillotine. January 21 1793[146]

After lecturing my brother with a jaundiced eye, I said, ex Prince Raila earned his Kingship, but that does not transfer to an automatic dynasty.

Republicanism, is no walk-over in history. It can shed crocodile tears with ease if need be.

Still, it is dangerous for republicans to mourn a prince the loudest. It is good comedy but not the best. There has been a kind of creeping atavist wave, that is a monarchist, dynastic tendency rearing its head in Kenyan politics of late, -the Kilonzos, Kenyattas, Wamalwas, Mudavadis, Mois, Aworis, Odingas, Kajwang', Kosgei ... and, if I remember correctly, Kibaki's boy Jimmy was, together with Eugene Wamalwa, a busy-bee around the country in his father's wake, before eventually succumbing to the swat-team of his step mom, the awesome former Othaya Narc Activist. May be seething in the shadows, licking his wounds, Jimmy learnt his lesson and is busy sharpening his sword for a much more formidable thrust next time around.

A prince who earns keep like Raila did in his legend as the mover of the second liberation, deserves his crown. So Jimmy can work it up.

Reputedly in the background, the ODM was casing for a seat for the younger, now late Odinga, indeed to digitalise the dynasty. The death of the crown price disturbs that succession plan. Not a bad thing for republicans in their ideological conflict with royal dynasties. But Luo republicans in this case, will be well-advised to shut up, lest a backlash of the treason charge be their lot, just like Gikuyu republicans currently under the yoke of the Muthamaki invincibility, are a dead-end opinion.

But the republican constituency is ever brooding, dark and foreboding. Modernisation into a republican dynastic contest, ala the looming Bush vs Clinton part 2, is game. It is actually the republic of Kenya, not the Kingdom of ... incase one forgot.

This historical point must be made, verbally for the moment. That is what your teachers are there for, and why you should pay them more than Mpigs! (whose speciality is to mutilate heard-earned constitutions!)

[jakaswanga]

Jan 7, 2015 13:42:26 GMT 3 podp said:

Jan 7, 2015 12:11:37 GMT 3 kelly said:

It is only telling for those who do not or choose not to understand the Luo culture and traditions...there is nothing telling there...

The widow’s prospective inheritor (sing. jater, pl. joter) sleeps in the widow’s house while she is visiting her natal home. When the widow returns, she cooks the meat she brought back. The widow and her inheritor eat the meat. They engage in sexual intercourse that night, and the man must prove that he is a real inheritor. Then, the inheritor starts building their new house, helped by the widow.

A widow too old to have sex selects a man who is about her age. When she returns from her natal home, her inheritor prepares a fireplace for cooking. She cooks and they eat together. They spend the night without sex. But the inheritor must keep inside the house his belongings. This is done so that visitors may know that the old man and woman stay together and love each other. With a young widow, it is practically impossible for any man to inherit her and not have sex.

If a wife died, the widower follows the mourning taboos only when she was the first wife. In that event, the husband takes his children to the deceased’s parents. They stay one night and return the following day. The children are given meat or a hen by their grandparents.

jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/18-3&4/18-3&4%20213-228.pdf

it is unpolite for the above to occur at RAOs homestead but very ok at Jaramongi's place as both (Jaramogi and Fidel) are 'age-mates'

come on Podp! --Ohigla manyien koso ohigla machon!?

Nosegoyo dala? To dalano nosedonjoe? (Had the late already established/built his own home?)
to ka podi
Nosegero simba, kata loko ot e dala wuon? (Or was he still living at his dad's homestead?)

Me? I go with Goebbels the famous Nazi propaganda chief: when I hear the word CULTURE, I rush for the nearest exit!
WHY?
Culture is not coclusive, it is a continuum allowing for various outcomes, some of them contradictory, but coexistent!

who said you don't burry Luos, even if prominent, in urban cemeteries? --Culture? I think the damn thing is so flexible as to be meaningless in a corrupt republic like ours! Lip service galore!

[jakaswanga]

RWATH THO GI LUM E DHOGE (A BULL'S IS TO GRAZE TO DEATH)

A while ago, on this august blog, on the occasion of a funeral thread launched by Onyango Oloo to celebrate the promotion of Dr. Adhu Awiti to higher glory, I took painful turns to offer a tutorial on two twin cultural pillars pertaining to passage rites, in Luo society. –--Sigueya and Sira. (I still have to complete one more chanting sequel lauding one, Odindo Opiata. More about that later.

How-be-it our in-house rogue and habitual mischief maker, him b6k, in characteristic fashion, chose only to highlight a rather offside event, an event more infamous in pseudo comical indulgence than contextual relevance. You see, the venerable Amos Wako, the poor-sighted ODM senator and former AG from hell, chanting –--Jowi! Jowi!--- in a GOK mapambano send-off, charged at break-neck speed across the stage and nearly launched himself airborne, having failed to gauge the off-platform depth! The incorrigible b6k thought this was some ODM-harakiri ritual hitherto unknown to the non initiated, and which would go along way in rigging the next election for the popular party.

So I had to break it down some more, enlightening him that this was a Muluhya performing a Luo-Kamba fusion dance –-get ready for the next clique of tyranny of numbers! Learn Kikamba! More about that later, too.

THIS THING CALLED CULTURE! –-where is my gun!?

A view from below.

This song Nyathi Nyakatch by the late Benga Maestro Okatch Biggy, will offer us a deadly lesson on the pitfalls of enlisting culture to underwrite a political choice.



In a refrain line, Sondo Rach, asere neko, Biggy asks in relentless passion:
N'ga motho kachodeni, uywagega nang'o?

NB: There was an inter-ethnic altercation in Sondu market (on the Kisumu Kisii road) where arrows flying thick and fast claimed many a victim. It coincided with Okatch's search for his favourite big-buttocks. He sings:
(sianda madongogi nonega/nowita-oko!
Ng'a motho kachodeni uywagega nang'o!?)

In pursuit of rolling buttocks I profess my death!
–-Oh, fellow Luos, what odes do you chant
To mourn one who died on mission-pu-ssy?
….

The singer does not give an answer. The response is given by the talking bass guitar.
(Okuombo –-Rwath tho gi lum e dhoge! Wuowi tho gi-oko, kata kong'ora!)

the guitar bellows –-like a bull in a lush valley, readable as:
–--------The bull dies with grass in its mouth!--------

NB: this of course can be further decoded to: a bull's is to graze, literally to death!

Now consider this info: on the said day and night of his demise, Fidel Odinga's itinerary in town, mathematically said, is a function or a graph consistent with a bull out and about town. Though a family man, he left his wife and young kid to their devices, more or less abandoned at home to entertain themselves in the spacious abode. –--Rwath odhi kwath! Oduogo gi tho!

A bull's is to graze, literally to death.

GOYOSIRA.

Goyosira is also an athletic display which gives the widow a chance to spy implied prowess. At funerals with young widows, inheritance is never a far-off agenda. A widow will be inherited the Luo insist, kin of in their version of baada ya dhiki ni furaha. A widow too, is the kind of vacuum intolerable to nature, or, fishily said, to luoland culture .
A widow will be inherited. And that is a competitive task where nature and culture combine to shamelessly shape events, tears or no tears. It is a ruthless institute that requires spectacular courage to escape from, no less than the courage a house-slave had to master to join the run-away gang.

Now I am open to disputations and disambiguation from specialists in Luo culture! It may not be my official trade, but being a patron of ahangla in addition to a rampant chang'aa-totaller in primitive Nyanza, I have tasted a bit of Okot P'Bitek's vision: immerse yourself in the psychic of our people, where the whiteman's invasion has never permeated, and see what you come up with!

I am sorry! Culture!? I will reach for my gun when I hear it coming!

NB: Nyanza is in the grips of rival apiko gangs. –-that is motorcycle gangs. They come complete with their priests, burial rituals, coffin designs and motorcycle acrobatics which, when they go wrong, result in instant death. It is a dare-devil's pact with death. That is a culture you got to see to believe! Stunting to death, not faking for the movies and a fistful of dollars, so to speak!

Wuowi tho gi-oko, --JOWI! JOWI!--- rwath tho gi lum e dhoge! –-that is a CRY which, in my cultural opinion, befits Fidel Odinga. And I am open to disputations and disambiguation from specialists in Luo culture!

Culture!? Trigger happy reaction i go!

[mank]

Jan 7, 2015 13:42:26 GMT 3 podp said:

Jan 7, 2015 12:11:37 GMT 3 kelly said:

It is only telling for those who do not or choose not to understand the Luo culture and traditions...there is nothing telling there...

The widow’s prospective inheritor (sing. jater, pl. joter) sleeps in the widow’s house while she is visiting her natal home. When the widow returns, she cooks the meat she brought back. The widow and her inheritor eat the meat. They engage in sexual intercourse that night, and the man must prove that he is a real inheritor. Then, the inheritor starts building their new house, helped by the widow.

A widow too old to have sex selects a man who is about her age. When she returns from her natal home, her inheritor prepares a fireplace for cooking. She cooks and they eat together. They spend the night without sex. But the inheritor must keep inside the house his belongings. This is done so that visitors may know that the old man and woman stay together and love each other. With a young widow, it is practically impossible for any man to inherit her and not have sex.

If a wife died, the widower follows the mourning taboos only when she was the first wife. In that event, the husband takes his children to the deceased’s parents. They stay one night and return the following day. The children are given meat or a hen by their grandparents.

jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/18-3&4/18-3&4%20213-228.pdf

it is unpolite for the above to occur at RAOs homestead but very ok at Jaramongi's place as both (Jaramogi and Fidel) are 'age-mates'

I can't imagine Fidel's widow going along with this inheritance business. I imagine she would not be at peace with the arrangment, having not grown up in that culture. Does the woman have a choice, or is it a done deal that she is inheritance material if the man dies in wedlock? I imagiine that in the age of feminism there have been cases in which women refused to go with the customs in the circumstances. Can they be let live, and remain in the family if they opt to?