From: Faulu Suba

Thathe last copy of ‘Luo Kitgi gi Timbegi’ and talks with elders both Luo and Suba reveal that there are some practices that were unknown in the Luo community. One of these strange practices has cropped up in the last 2 to 3 decades. This practice is that of giving and receiving hand outs (gonyo).

Gonyo is a deadly practice that if not checked would evolve into a culture that would kill any remaining enterprising spirit in the community. It is deadly because:

1) It does not allow the giver to offer sustainable help to the community. Instead of channelling resources to economically viable projects, much is lost through scattered drops to different people(instead of giving people hunting tools, little bits of spoils from hunting is distributed);

2) It denies the giver resources to invest in private enterprise which could in turn create employment;

3) It reduces social interactions to mere transactions where the giver thinks he/she has bought the receiver and the receiver remains feeling cheap and hopeless;

4) It makes the receivers not to think beyond the box to fend for themselves;

5) It encourages the receivers to demand from and harass those who do not have extra/are not willing to give;

6) It is an abuse of love, an abuse of charity and evil. We often see able youth and wazees chasing after gonyo bot you rarely see the very vulnerable widows, orphans and physically handicapped demanding for gonyo.

We should therefore campaign vigorously against gonyo and all its other forms.