Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga leaves after a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, November 13, 2011.
In literature, the use of nicknames serves to reveal personality traits that are crucial for character development, and to show the social dynamics within the narrative. Such is ‘The Artful Dodger’, the pickpocket Dawkins in ‘Oliver Twist’ (Charles Dickens) who is a skilled thief and nimble street runner, Piggy in ‘Lord of the Flies,’ Hurree Jamset Ram Singh known as ‘The Nabob of Bhanipur’ (in the Greyfriars’ schoolboy books) and their main character Billy Bunter also known as the Omnivore, Frabjous, the cormorant and the ‘Owl of the Remove.’
Locally, Adipo Sidang’s ‘Parliament of Owls’ has Puppet Owl, Moneybags Owl, Socialite Owl and ‘Iron Lady’ Owl – ‘Iron Lady’ having been the nickname of the famous British Prime Minister of the 1980s’ decade, Margaret Hilda Thatcher.
However, nicknames are not limited to literary context only. Across the world, many political leaders have had nicknames that, a la literature, reveal their characters and relationship with their people in the nation and world.
ODM party leader Raila Odinga during interview at his Karen home in Nairobi on November 27, 2020.
American president nicknames – ‘Honest Abe’ (Abraham Lincoln), ‘Sleek Willie’ (Bill Clinton) and ‘Tricky Dicky’ (Richard Nixon) were revealing of their characters.
World War II, 80 years ago, had German General Ernst Romell called the ‘Desert Fox’ for his mastery of tank warfare in North Africa, and his opposite number George Patton as “Old Blood and Thunder” for his colorful, vulgar speeches to troops demanding they ‘give and take blood’ in battle, delivered in thunderous tones.
The mass murderer Josef Stalin of Russia was sold as “Uncle Joe” to Americans as an ally then, but another earlier Russian tyrant is more accurately known as “Ivan the Terrible,” as opposed, say, to “Peter the Great,” the tsar who build the great city Saint Petersburg and brought Russia to modernity in the 18th century.
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was nicknamed “The Punisher” for his anti-drug campaign (that killed thousands of Filipinos), Kim Jong Un is ‘Rocket Man,’ Sani Abacha was known as ‘the Butcher of Abuja,’ Bokasa was the ‘Ogre from Berengo’; and to go full circle, we have our own ‘Iron Lady’ Martha Karua in Kenya who in 2022 was the running mate of the recently late, forever great Raila Amolo Odinga (under the Azimio umbrella), with Raila being monikered as “The Fifth” – that is how certain many people were that he would win the 2022 race.
In the end, he narrowly lost to president William Ruto, whose nicknames have included ‘Zakayo’ (tax collector) and ‘Kasongo,’ which he humorously danced to last New Year’s Eve, as if to neutralize it by ‘owning’ it; for if, as the saying goes, a nickname is the hardest stone the Devil can throw at a man, then by nicknaming Kalonzo ‘Water Melon,’ Raila comically cast the Wiper leader as always indecisive.
Former ODM leader the late Raila Odinga.
But if Raila Odinga could give someone the occasional nickname, no-one ever succeeded in having as many nicknames as he did during his long political life – with every nickname being emblematic of a certain political period in his life.
And Raila really was the proverbial political cat (feline, puss, kitty, tom, moggie, fur baby, alley cat, mouser), with an appropriate nickname for each epoch from about 1990 until his sudden shattering demise in mid-October, 2025.
The ‘Nyundo’ of FORD: Coming out of a long period of detention after the 1982 attempted coup, Raila swiftly proved himself an unbroken man by being one of the most courageous activists, hammering away at the one party (KANU) system that earned him the nickname ‘Nyundo.’ His (successful) attempt to smash the system got him back in detention, alongside Charles Rubia and Kenneth Matiba, just before ‘Saba Saba’, July, 1990.
Tinga of “NDP” (National Development Party): After the death of Jaramogi, Raila tried to steamroll his way to the leadership of Ford Kenya, his rabble-rousing abilities earning him the nickname ‘Tinga.’ (Tractor). Leaving the party to one Wamalwa Kijana, Raila formed the NDP in 1995. Seven years later, after KANU had swallowed his party, he would joke that “jogoo ilimeza tinga tinga, lakini tractor ikatoka na maini ya kuku!” (because it would be he, Raila, who wrecked new KANU).
Raila Odinga addresses a political rally at Jacaranda grounds in Nairobi County on January 29, 2023.
“Agwambo” of LDP: changing political outfits again, Raila emerged out of the merger with Mzee Moi in 2002 with a new Liberal Democratic Party. But it was both his entry and then subsequent exit from KANU that got him the name ‘Agwambo.’Meaning the “mysterious, unpredictable one” for his wily political acts.
JAKOM, the Leader of ODM: No one campaigned harder for an infirm Kibaki to win the presidency in 2002, so no one felt more betrayed than Raila when Kibaki failed to honour the MOU they had signed as the ‘Rainbow Alliance.’ Jakom, meaning ‘leader’ in Luo, became his nickname as he led the “No” rebellion against Kibaki’s ‘Wako Draft’ of the proposed new Katiba, and won by over a million votes under the chungwa sign as things went bananas for the Kibaki camp. ‘Jakom’ then formed the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) that is now turning 20, with turbulence ahead!
Raila Odinga addresses his supporters during a rally at Ndanai in Bomet County on July 5, 2017.
Raila ‘the Enigma’: It was Babafemi A. Badeyo’s 2006 biography titled “Raila Odinga: the Enigma of Kenyan politics” that earned him the name – and truly Raila was the proverbial riddle hidden in a jigsaw in a political puzzle, forming the ‘Pentagon’ that most probably won the presidency in 2007.
“BABA” is born – but Raila Odinga’s most enduring nickname would come in 2014, a year after his CORD coalition had lost the election to “Uhuruto.” Going away to the USA for three long months, just before his return, a chap called Japheth Muriuki put out a list of national grievances titled ‘Baba, while you were away …’ which went viral, with millions getting into the challenge, like children reporting to Dad all the bad things that happened when he was not at home. A huge crowd met ‘Baba’ Odinga at the airport upon his return, a gimmick that former DP Rigathi Gachagua – nicknamed ‘Riggy G’ whilst in office, and now ‘Wamunyoro’ in opposition, tried to replicate earlier this year.
The ‘Joshua’ of NASA – just before the 2017 General Elections, Raila promised to ‘free Kenya’ and lead the country to the promised land (of prosperity), like Joshua leading the people to freedom in Canaan. He lost, the election was overturned in the Supreme Court, but Raila boycotted the second round, became the ‘People’s President’ at the end of January, 2018, and instead of being charged with treason, in true ‘Agwambo’ style was soon in a handshake with the ‘pharaoh’
Raila speaks during a luncheon at Sarova Whitesands organized to celebrate Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir's swearing-in on September 15, 2022.
‘RAO’ – the ninth and final life of Raila Amolo Odinga was just as ‘RAO’ to the Gen Z population whose earliest members were born when he was running for president in 1997 (he came third with 667,886 votes, less than 10% of the total vote tally he would get in the 2022 election). Interestingly, in Luo, ‘rao’ is the word for hippopotamus. Perhaps, a befitting description as if he were an animal in folklore, he would be a lakeside amphibius hippopotamus, but especially to metaphorically describe his oversize influence on our political landscape.
Had Raila become the top honcho of the African Union last year, an election that was won by a minnow from Djibouti, no doubt his tenth nickname would have been “Chairman” – the ultimate ‘Jakom’ on the African continent.
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