Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

HISTORICALLY, the Luos are well known as generous, humble, humorous and peace-loving people who preferred living harmoniously with their neighbors.

Despite of its numerical strength, the community has always exercised a lot of respect and love towards its minority neighbors, the Kuria community included.

It has, however, been noticed in the recent past, that Kuria MP Dr. Wilfred Machage has gone solo making some disturbing and unrealistic demands, claiming that the Luos had grabbed the Kurias land or territory, citing places like Migori, Uriri, Awendo and Rongo as having belonged to the Kuria in the past.

Off course, we are all aware of the existence of a deeply rooted enmity between the Kuria MP Dr Wilfred Machage and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga ever since the formation of the grand coalition government which show the colorless Kuria MP who hitherto was serving as Kenya’s Minister for East African Community Affairs, but was relegated to the junior position of an Assistant Minister in the new arrangement worked out by the two principals in the coalition, President Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

But this should not be the sufficient reason for the Kuria Mp to hurl abuse against an otherwise peaceful community whenever he opened up at the various public rallies.

There is not even an iota of piece of land that the Luo had seized from the Kuria during the early settlement in Southern Nyanza. The entire Southern Nyanza region was a Maasai territory and the Kurias only arrived in the areas the other day. The community had come from Tanganyika {Tanzania}, arriving in areas currently known as Kuria East and West districts. The arrival of Kurias around 1750 had coincided with the arrival of the Luo-Abasuba across Lake Victoria from Uganda..

Let Dr.Machage whom I had a lot of respect as a leader not distort the history of this country for the purpose of satisfying his selfish egos. Moreover Machage himself is a Tanzanian citizen, and he is so lucky that he is now sitting in our August house along side our sons and daughter. He need to learn the elementary history of his community, and how the had settled in what is today known as Kuria.

He Maasai, mostly of Siria and Lioliondo sub-clans were the first settlers of Southern Nyanza followed by Zanakes, the tribe of the late President Julius Kambarage Nyerere which once occupied some patches of land around the Lambwe Valley and then the Luos.

A pre-historic route {footpath}, which is known as Koir-Lanbg’o which the Maasai used when driving their herd of cattle for water along the shoireline of Lake Victoria around trhe places called Mirunda and Malela in the present Mbitadistrict is still therefor Dr. Machage to visit. This is a clkear indication that the region had been occupied by the Maasai for close to a century before the community moved southern wards after the arrival of the Luos. There was no way, the Kuria could have broken up the solid line of the fierce Maasai and travelled all along from Tanganyika to be settled in Rongo, Uriri, Awendo and Migori districts.

Unless the Kuria MPO has read his historical know- how upside down. for simple reason of making political mileage in his Kuria constituency where he is not so very comfortable with his constituents, who treats him as an outsider.

I should also like to take Dr. Machage on about the history of the Luos both in Kenya and in Tanzania. Many Luo sub-clam moved out of Nyanza Province in search of green pasture in the North Mara region of Tanzania at the closing of the 19th century following the outbreak of sleeping sickness menace, which had attacked the entire lake region forcing thousands of survivors to migrate toward the South in search of land.

Many Luo sub-clans moved on past South Nyanza and settled in the North Mara Region of Tanzania. These sub-clans include jo-Kagwa,Jo-Waturi, Jo-Kakiseru,Jo-Wagire, Jo-Kamot,Jo-Kagwa,Jo-Ugu, Jo-Wasweta,Jo-Rieny Kowuoyo who are closely related to the Kuria’s sub-clan of Wakenye.Jo-Waganjo,.

These people arrived in the region and found the Kuria as the indigenous settlers of North Mara, but the Luois were militarily superior than the Kurias. The Luos over run the Kurias land and drove them out of the Lake Victoria shore-line in order to access the lake fish. Kurias like the Maasai of Southern Nyanza moved to the hinterland with their herds of cattle and became the cattle breeders and herdsmen , while the Luos occupied the entire lake region from what is today Muhuru Bay up to Musoma.

At the same, I must admit that there were a lot of tribal and intra-communal concoctions. We have some Luo clans, which are inter-related to the Kurias. These are Jo-Wasimbete,Jo-Kakisingiri,Jo-Waganjo, Jo-Wagire, Jo-Wakine,Jo-Ugu.Jo-Kaler,Jo-Waswa,Jo-Koredo,Jo-Kasigiria,Jo-Kamine and so many other smaller groups.. These groups had crossed the border and settled inside Luo Nyanza and have since been assimilated and swallowed by the Luos. Inside Kuria country, we have sub-clans like the Buirege, who are inter-related to the Jo-Waregi of both Kaksingiri and Rusinga Island and Suna-Migori where they currently known as Jo-Osingo.

Apart from those Luo-sub-clans which passed through Southern Nyanza and moved on to North Mara, the Jo-Kachwanya, a major sub-clan in South Nyanza which occupied the largest part of the region are were the first settlers in the region. The Maasai moved out following incessant attack by the Jo-Kabuoch and Jo- Kanyamwa combined forces. But it was the Jo-Kabuoch who harassed the Maasai and forced them to flee to Sikawa Hills.

The Jo-Kachwanya include the Karachuonyo, Kasipul and Kabondo, Kabuoch, Kanyamwa, Kadem and Karungu. These were the single largest Luo sub-clans to have pioneered and settled in the hitherto wild animal sanctuary regiono9f Southern Nyanza. These communities found not trace of Kuria people in the region. So we real don’t from what source of history the Kuria MP is basing his land claims on.

May be Dr. Machage ‘s intention is to stirrup tribal animosity and skirmishes so that he could flee and run back to his native country home in Tanzania?

The gallant Jo-Kabuoch had moved own and occupied a lot of Maasai territories, which included areas like Akoko, Sigawa, Mahena, Utoma, Maroo, Kanyimach, Ng’ong’a,Oruba, Uriri. The Masais after being driven out had re-grouped and later launched counter-attack against the advanced Kabuoch group and pushed them beyond Ranen Hills ,Awendo,Ranjira and Uriri .But the Maasai moved on and settled around Sikawa, Lolgorien,Ole-Nyati and other area, But only to be harassed by the arrival of the Uasin Gishu Maasais,who were pushed out of Wareng’ Plains by the colonialist to give ways to the White Settlers in what was baptized as “The White Highland”. This was around 1922 following the signing of the contentious and controversial British-Maasai agreement.

After the Jo-Kabuoch had retreated below Awendo and Ranen areas the entire region remain a wildlife sanctuary until the new settlers consisting of Jo-Sakwa and Jo-Kanyamkago arrived early in the 20th century., and the settlement of the area began in earnest. Jo-Kabuoch and Jo-Kamagambo lived together and protected their gains in terms of land and territories.

The Kuria were only notorious as cattle rustlers, hey raided not for the land, but for the cattle. The same practice pitted them against the Maasai,Luos and their cousins the Abagusii. And up to now the community still practicing cattle rustling like a culture. If the areas, which Machage is now claiming to have been forcefully grabbed from the kuria had remained forests for a long time until the new Luo settlers arrived in the 1910 and 1920, but still it was a patches of forestation and sanctuaries for wildlife until the proper settlement was completed around 1948.

Where were the Kuria then to reclaim their lost land?IN 1945 I personally saw my uncle Ouma and Gumo Mitula and other elders chasing away a herds of elephants ,which had invaded and were destroying their farms. The elephants had come from the nearby Ang’we forest, which is now part of the nucleus estates farm of the Awendo-based SONY SUGAR Company.

Dr. Machage high degree of hate against the Luos may be his constitutional rights to do so, but late him engage himself in what is known in politics as the “constructive engagement’. As much as he is crying over a split milk for having lost the Cabinet flag, he ought to have known that he is not of Raila Odinga’s equal in politics. He is a political novice and a dwarf to “Agwambo” . He should therefore confine and direct his criticism to Mr Odinga as an individual, but try not to provoke hatred between the Kuria and the Luos.

The two communities had lived harmoniously ever since the time immemorial, and even shared one administrative district from the original South Nyanza which included Kisiis before the creation of the largest South Nyanza in 1962 by the colonialists shortly Kenya achieved her political independence e in 1963.

After the separation of the Luos and Kisiis, the Kurias joined the Luos in Homa-Bay, which for year remained the administrative headquarters of the larger South Nyanza and worked together in developing the region to its current status.

May be Dr.Machage is trying to divert the attention of the public about his predicament in Kuria constituency, and trying to gain fame by way of incessantly throwing his vitriol’s to Raila Odinga in revenge for his lost cabinet job, but let this not involved the Kuria and the Luos. This cannot help him improve his rapidly waning popularity among the Kuria electorate. I am sure for certain that comes the year 2012 the intelligent Kuria voter will show him the way to his native home country of Tanzania.

No matter how much he uses Raila Odinga as his patching bag through applying apologist and sycophantic politics, But the Kuria and the Luos will remain peaceful and co-exist and work hard in their concerted efforts to develop their region despite of the MPs high provocative and insults.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com