To many Kenyans, members of the Luo community look like a uniform group, thanks to their similarity and almost uniform appearance and behaviour.
However, the truth remains that there exists a number of differences among members of the community, though they do most of their things the same way.
Here are some of them:
1. Language
As a Luo from Kano Plains in Kisumu, some words in my vocabulary slightly differ with those from the Luos of Ugenya, Siaya and Alego clans in Siaya County.
This combination is otherwise known as 'USA'.
For instance, all other Luos would refer to a tree is "yien" and medicine as "yath", while the 'USA' group refers to them the other way round, "yien" for medicine and "yath" for a tree.
Therefore, though it might be hard for non-Luos to point out the differences, a Luo can always tell the place another Luo hails from just by listening to them talk.
2. Speech
Almost similar to the language, this entails the style of speaking, which also varies based on where a person hails from and also excludes members of the 'USA' areas.
While the others speak rather slowly, the Ugenya, Alego and Siaya clans speak relatively faster and include some wordings which are not present in the other dialects.
This includes 'ga', which is not used by the others.
For instance, they will say "Awachoga" to mean "this is what I am saying", while the others will simply use " Awacho," to mean the same thing.
3. Mythical characteristics
The different clans also come with different mythical values and appearances, for instance, the mentality that most men from Kano are strong due to the muddy environment they work in.
The other is that the proudest women are from clans surrounding Homa Bay due to the presence of lots of money around that area, brought about by lake activities and beaches.
Those said to argue about everything are the same people from the 'USA', which has been slightly justified by the fact that most vocal opposition figures in Kenya are from that side.