Inside historic Kang’o Ka Jaramogi homestead where Raila, Jaramogi graves lie

The former Prime Minister was a seasoned politician who unsuccessfully vied for the presidency five times.

On October 15, Odinga's democracy flame went out when he died while receiving treatment at Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, India.

Odinga's mark in Kenya's democracy and political space earned him a state burial, a reserve for national dignitaries such as Kenyan presidents. 

Three days after his death, his mortal remains were lowered into his final resting place at Kang’o ka Jaramogi,  in Bondo, Siaya County, beside his late father and the first vice president, Jaramogi Oginga.  Raila wished to be buried within 72 hours of his death. 

For over a month, Kang’o ka Jaramogi has been open to the public, with thousands of Kenyans flocking there to pay their last respects to a man they held in high regard. 

But what is in the name Kang’o ka Jaramogi? 

According to Anthony Obondo, a resident of Nyamira village where Kang’o Ka Jaramogi is found, the name was given by Mzee Jaramogi himself. 

“Kang’o were some very hard trees that people used to hunt with. Those trees were found here in abundance, so Mzee Jaramogi decided to call this place Kang’o Ka Jaramogi,” Obondo said. 

The people of Nyamira village had migrated here from the shores of Lake Victoria due to massive tsetse fly infestation. They cleared the bushes with the help of the government of the day and settled here.

Jaramogi’s family settled here as well, where together with his four wives they raised their children, including Raila. 

In Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, the houses of the four wives are properly lined according to the Luo culture. The fourth wife sits near the entrance to the compound, followed by the second wife, then the eldest (Raila’s mother), with the third wife at the far corner of the compound. 

According to Raila’s best friend, Mzee Olang’o Nyabola, Jaramogi was a man who wanted his family to thrive, and his children to get an education. 

“Jaramogi called me to his house through my mother and blessed me. I was sickly then. He said I would live to old age and thrive. That is how I came to know Raila, and we became close friends,” Nyabola says. 

In Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, there are over 10 graves of the Jaramogi family members who have passed on. They include Raila’s mother, Mary Adhiambo, and Raila’s son, Fidel Castro Odinga, who died in 2015. 

While there is a graveyard for the deceased, Raila and his father, Jaramogi do not lie here. Instead, their graves are slightly 100 metres from the graveyard, with a mausoleum on Jaramogi’s. The family intends to build one on Raila’s. 

“Raila wished to be buried beside his parents, so the family decided to bury him beside his father, and because we want to build a mausoleum for him, this looks spacious and ideal,” his brother Omondi Odinga said.

On the days that Raila visited Bondo, he visited his friend Nyabola at his joint in Kambajo market, where they spent hours having a drink and catching up into the late night.

Nyabola remembers fondly the last visit Raila made there before his untimely death.

“He came here, we spent time together in this corner, and he told me he was going to Malindi for some fresh air, then he would go to India for a checkup. In India, he called me and said he would be back in a week. He never came back,” a teary Nyabola recalls.

His brother Omondi says Raila’s last visit to the family was when he attended a function at his house.

“He came into my house here, but he looked pale. He wasn’t okay. That was the last time we saw him alive. When the news of his death came, we were so shocked, I could not believe it because we had talked on the phone and he had said he was looking forward to coming back,” Omondi says. 

His mother, Susan Oginga, described Raila as a kind man who received her well when she married into the family in 1975.

“By then, Raila had married Idah, and they welcomed me very well. He was a kind person who ensured the family stuck together after Mzee Jaramogi passed on,” Susan said.