What happens when a man with a slow manner of speaking but an unmissable sense of humour becomes a point of focus? The answer is quite simple: one Dr Oburu Ng’ong’a Oginga, also sometimes tongue-in-cheek referred to as the ‘youth leader’, is unleashed.
When we say “unmissable sense of humour,” we mean someone who says things like:
“Every Kenyan is entitled to security, but leaders are entitled even more because they have more enemies.”
“If you follow a housefly, it will lead you to a toilet. If you follow a bee, it will lead you to honey.”
“I am the rightful Senator for Siaya, elected by an overwhelming majority with more votes than the governor himself.”
“Let it (National Government Constituency Development Fund) be killed elsewhere, not by us (the Senate).”
Oburu Oginga launches fierce attack on ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank you profusely for recognising me as the youngest member of this House [on October 15, 2024]. I have turned 81 years old and I feel as if I am 40 years old.”
“If I don’t introduce [my wives] to you, they may feel jealous and refuse to give me food.”
Dr Oburu, the Siaya Senator and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, went a notch higher last week when he did what netizens call “hopping onto a trend.”
He capitalised on a trending video of amateur boxer Ferdinand Omondi, alias Mbavu Destroyer, who is gearing up for a fight in Nairobi this April. The video depicted the boxer asking a young boy to “weka mawe ”—his way of asking the boy to hit his upper back with a concrete block.
In Dr Oburu’s rendition, there was no real hitting of his octogenarian’s back, but the lady behind him had a building block for dramatic effect.
“Mawe,” he’d answer, as she made a mock hit by pushing the block closer to his body.
Mbavu Destroyer utters the trending catchphrase “ni mbaiyaa” (it is bad) in his video, and the lady repeated it, as did Dr Oburu.
There he was: a man with a PhD in economics, and at the ripe age of 82, hopping into a trend that had excited younger Kenyans, even demonstrating the “mbwekse” (two wrists coming together) sign for good measure.
ODM Leader Oburu Oginga at Linda Ground in Siaya County.
Photo credit: Pool
Dr Oburu’s younger brother, Raila Odinga , was a trend-setter, creating moments that went viral on social media. #BabaWhileYouWereAway, #RailaChallenge, and other trends inspired thousands of posts.
Raila’s utterances like “DJ hapana leta mchanganyiko (DJ, do not mix up songs)” became jingles for deejays and fad phrases that people repeated at various events. Photos and videos of him became memes used to express various emotions.
When he died last October, fate suddenly dragged Dr Oburu from the shadow of his brother into the limelight. Now, the lenses that once focused on Raila are trained on him.
Suddenly, a senior politician hitherto known mostly for speeches at rallies and contributions in the Senate is generating jingles for deejays, photos and videos for memes, and catchphrases for social gatherings.
Unlike Raila, who seldom jumped onto viral trends, Dr Oburu—whose most famous nickname is Youth Leader—is proving not just to be a trend-setter but also someone who can hop onto one effortlessly.
To crown it all, Dr Oburu already has imitators who tickle social media users by aping his low-timbre voice, his accent, and pauses that seem to land anywhere in his sentences.
For context, 1943, the year Dr Oburu was born, is also listed as when the world’s first fully electronic and programmable computer was created. Eighty-two years later, computers have become far more powerful and miniaturised to the extent that the average person carries at least one programmed computing device at any time. Thanks to the World Wide Web, created when Dr Oburu was 46, he is now a regular fixture on young Kenyans’ communication networks.
ODM party leader and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Of all the catchphrases Dr Oburu has given Kenyans, “hatuwezi kuwa bila pawa ” (we can’t do without being in power) has been the most used.
“Hatuwezi kuwa bila pawa. Ni lazima tupate pawa. Na hiyo kupata pawa, mpaka wa-Coast watakuwapo,” he said in Mombasa in early February, promising that if ODM forms government, Coastal people will be included.
It has been used by TikTok users in various contexts: gym-goers, porridge enthusiasts, keg drinkers, peanut sellers, and more.
Recently, he also asked at an event, “DJ hakuna (there isn’t a DJ here)?” This too generated a wave of imitations, just like his remark “ninawapeleka Canaan kupitia Singapore ” (I will take you to Canaan via Singapore), which amused Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
“I remember his brother was saying we’ll go to Canaan. But we reached River Jordan and others were bitten by fish, and there were many crocodiles. We didn’t cross, and one time Raila said he would build bridges with his brother, Uhuru Kenyatta,” said Mr Musyoka.
Your typical senior citizen might prefer somewhere cool, dry, and near grandchildren. But for Oburu, setting and hopping onto trends is his mainstay for now. Ni mbaiyaa.
He feels 40 after all, and as they say, a man is as old as he feels. Besides, he has recently told anyone trying to pull him and his party backward: “Ooh-ng’ooooo!”
