President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni yesterday used a Luo community cultural event to root for unity in the East Africa region and the continent to boost trade and prosperity.
Speaking during the Piny Luo Festival in Siaya County, the two leaders campaigned for Mr Raila Odinga, who is seeking the African Union Commission Chairmanship, exuding confidence that his win would bring better fortunes for the continent. The three-day festival featured various activities including sports and cultural events.
It attracted representatives of the Dholuo-speaking community from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Museveni appreciated the fact that it was the third time he was being recognised by the Luo community.
“What this festival is doing now, is showing the unfairness of these borders. I am happy you are doing this because these borders have no right to divide people like this,” said Mr Museveni.
He said that during the colonial era, Africans had four historical missions which were to chase the foreigners and get independence, create prosperity for the African people, offer strategic security that helped them survive threats – and use theundugu (brotherhood) spirit to achieve these.
From left: President William Ruto, his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni and the African Union Commission Chairperson candidate Raila Odinga watch a football match between Gor Mahia and Uganda’s Kitara Football Club. Earlier on they officially launched the 20,000-seater Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium in the county. President Ruto said that as leaders they were going beyond the boundaries to promote multinational sports competitions so as to deepen cross-border harmony, boost talent exchange and further regional integration.
Photo credit: PHOTO | PCS
He said that they must strive to ensure that never again will Africa be able to bring all the East African people together.
“You wrestled, and played sports, but I wish you would have added the political federation of East Africa to deal with the issue of prosperity. We cannot achieve this by begging Americans for money, but by producing goods or services and selling to them. We must explore other bigger markets than our countries. I sell more beef, milk, and bananas to Ugandans and not my tribe,” said Mr Museveni.
He gave some pictures as gifts to Mr Odinga, President Ruto, and the Ker (head) of the Luo Council of Elders Mr Odungi Randa showing a meeting on June 3, 1963, where former Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (Tanzania) and Milton Obote of Uganda met in Nairobi and declared they will form the federation of East Africa.
He also drummed up support for Mr Odinga’s AUC bid, asking him to continue mobilising for votes.
President Ruto pointed out that there cannot be a successful Kenya and Uganda without a thriving East Africa and that is why it is important to put together the building blocks for trade and investment in the region.
President William Ruto, his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni and the African Union Commission Chairperson candidate Raila Odinga present a trophy to Gor Mahia FC captain AustIn Odhiambo after they defeated Uganda's Kitara during the official launch of the 20,000-seater Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Stadium in Siaya county on January 2, 2024.
Photo credit: PHOTO | PCS
“This celebration builds our bond of friendship and unity as East Africans. As (Siaya) Governor James Orengo has said, we have to use the artificial borders we have not as boundaries, roadblocks or hurdles, but as bridges for our goods to cross borders,” said President Ruto.
According to Dr Ruto, the country was celebrating the Luo culture in the context that it is a multinational community that straddles South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and DRC.
“This demonstrates that we can belong to one community and belong to different nationalities and we can be from different communities and still belong to one nationality. As we celebrate what we have today here in Siaya we remind ourselves that it is possible to belong to different communities and celebrate one nationality as one indivisible nation,” said Dr Ruto.
He revealed that before the Kenyan government rolled out Mr Odinga’s candidature, he went to President Museveni as the elder of the region and consulted other regional leaders who confirmed that they had the right candidate with the credentials to move Africa forward.
Presidents Ruto, Museveni tour exhibits at the Piny Luo Festival
He said that so far there has been tremendous progress and support for the candidature of Mr Odinga.
As part of carrying this culture to the next level, the president stated that his government will construct a fish landing site at Wich Lum, the venue for some of the activities in the festival, at a cost of Sh100 million.
He added that culture was evolving and this comes with education, scientific research, and knowledge therefore there was a need to expand opportunities that will support this.
“I was scheduled to open the Ramogi campus of Nyangóma Technical College. In honor of this event, we will announce that this campus is officially opened today and admit students beginning this January,” said Dr Ruto, noting that the construction cost Sh400 million.
The president announced the gazettement of two cultural heritage sites: Got Ramogi Forest, which is now a nationally certified cultural heritage, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Mausoleum.
“Got Ramogi epitomises the deep spiritual roots and traditions that we share as a region. We will keep preserving such heritage to further our unity and drive economic prosperity in East Africa,” said Dr Ruto.
The government is also assessing seven sites that have historical, cultural, and traditional significance which shall be gazette upon meeting the threshold.
These include cell blocs in Oyamo Island, Paramount Chief Odera Akang’o office, Nomiya Church, Owiny Sigoma heritage site, Mageta Island Mau Mau detention camp, and Migwena cultural grounds.
Mr Odinga termed it a great honour to have hosted President Museveni and Dr Ruto saying the gathering was not political but more of cultural.
“We have artificial borders which were drawn in Berlin and we have become hostage to these borders dividing our people across many countries. This gathering provides an opportunity to push for and actualize African unity,” said Mr Odinga.
He asked the nations to allow inter-African trade and ease the movement of goods and people freely by opening borders.
He stated that if Kenya and Uganda can have open borders, it will be a good start for integration.
“President Museveni, since our communities stay on both ends of the border, one thing that can come out of this festival is you pronouncing that any Kenyan can walk across to Uganda and vice versa. That will be the beginning of the East African Federation and we want to see it in our lifetime,” said Mr Orengo.
The leaders visited Got Ramogi Hill, the original settlement of the Luo community from South Sudan, where President Ruto and Museveni were installed as Luo elders.
Over the three days, Luo people have been celebrating traditional cuisines, rediscovering and adapting the traditional cultures to modernity, engaging in traditional games, and enjoying art, music, and festivities cherished by their forefathers.
They deliberated on the state of the Luo nation and charted a way forward in a rapidly changing world.
The day culminated in the official opening of the Siaya International Stadium where Kenya Premier League Champions Gor Mahia Football Club beat Kitara FC from Uganda on post-match penalties.
