Known to many as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, very few know that the nation’s first Vice President adopted the names in the course of his teaching tenure at the Maseno School, where he was also an alumnus.
Born Adonija Obadiah would later drop his English tittles for the new African ones, before he entered the political arena that did him both good and bad in equal measure.
Oginga would later meet the nation’s first Head of State Jomo Kenyatta In the 1950s, after which they joined forces to sabotage and finally expel the British rule in the nation.
And because of his rhyming names, the British nicknamed him Mr . Double O, with the first O reffering to Oginga and the second standing for his last Odinga name.
This is according to William Artwood’s book ‘The Reds And The Blacks’ released in 1967. Artwood was the first British High Commission to Kenya.
But the duo’s good relationship would later fade, following heavy investment by Kenyatta’s insiders who were not comfortable with his policies and seeming position as his successor.
To further provoke the heavily emotional legendary leader into exiting the ruling KANU block, Kenyatta and his men abolished the party Vice President post with 8 deputies from across the nation.
Angry and defeated, Oginga resigned from both his seats in 1966 and moved to the opposition where he stayed until his death in 1994.
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