A story is told of William Odongo Omamo, a former powerful Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister with his roots in Luo Nyanza, specifically Bondo, Siaya county.
Omamo who died in 2010 was one of the biggest headaches of departed founding Vice President Oginga Odinga whom he engaged in a political duel in the region.
Until his death in 1994, he had been elected to the Bondo parliamentary seat thrice, just like Omamo who was more of a project of the ruling KANU party then, while Oginga represented the opposition following his fallout with founding President Jomo Kenyatta in 1966.
The seasoned and amazing politician would later vacate the Bondo region and went straight ahead to win the Muhoroni parliamentary seat hundreds of kilometers away in today’s Kisumu County.
His political moves and constant urge to the people to think big earned him the nickname ‘Kaliech’ which translates to ‘Elephant-like’ in the Luo language.
He stressed on the need and called upon his constituents to initiate elephant-like projects which would be beneficial to them and their following generations.
He is the father to Defence Cabinet Minister Raychelle Omamo, who just like her father, seems more comfortable on the government side even though her Luo community seems more allied to the opposition side.
Ironically, the opposition is led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Oginga’s second-born son.
#historynow