RAMOGI Ajwang, a Luo Chieftain led the community to settle around L. Victoria 500 years ago. He was a respected King, revered, worshipped and with divinity second to Nyasae. He was the Ker of the Luo community.
Being a Ker was a divine calling and the bearer would never hold any roles other than the kingship of the community. During coronation, the Ker would vow to remain true to the sacred duties, responsibilities and functions of a Luo Chieftain.
Towards the mid 20 century, Oginga Odinga become the Ker of the Luo. He pledged to remain loyal to Ramogi Ajwang, the first spiritual leader of the community. Thus he was named Jaramogi, meaning 'man of the people of Ramogi'. His position was sacred; carrying out the traditional kingship roles and preserve the Luo culture within the jurisdiction of the Luo people.
According to dholuo traditions, a Ker cannot be a political leader and violation of this invokes a curse from Ramogi Ajwang. Aware of this, Oginga officially relinquished his Chieftain position in 1957 and was later elected to the Legislative Council for Central Nyanza.
By abandoning his Chieftain role, Oginga violated his divine calling and thus susceptible to Ramogi's spell. This started to manifest 2 years after he became the second in command, vice President, when in 1966, he had to resign from his post after some ideological differences with Jomo Kenyatta emerged.
An apocalyptic trail of events immaneting from the spell led him to be incarcerated in prison in 1969. He was confined to political oblivion until Moi rescued him in 1978 by appointing him Chairman of Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board.
However, his fate had been sealed and in 1982, he was put under house arrest.
Upon his release, he co-founded an opposition political party, Ford which unfortunately split. In 1992, he vied for the presidency on a Ford Kenya ticket, emerging a distant 4th. He died still dreaming to become the president of Kenya.
The baton of Ker was handed over along his bloodline, to his scion, Raila Odinga. As the next Ker, Raila followed the wrong path of politics instead of being a Ker. He immediately lost his grip of Ford Kenya, his father's party. He formed NDP and vied for the presidency in 1997, emerging position 3 in the race.
He tried to join Kanu as an easy opportunity to ascend to power but his political pregnancy aborted.
In 2002, having failed in KANU, he supported Kibaki, who won the presidency and Raila was made a cabinet minister. His union with Kibaki was shortlived. In 2007, he almost became the president, only that Ramogi Ajwang would not allow it. His victory was taken by Ramogi, leading to election violence.
All these happened, not by coincidence, but as a result of the curse of Ramogi Ojwang, the first Ker of the Luo community
Raila vied again for the presidency in 2013 and lost to Uhuru Kenyatta. The defeats are unusual and seem inevitable. The genesis can be traced back to the 1957 decision by Oginga to relinquish his Chieftain.
The Odingaism is now coming to an end. Currently, there is no apparent heir of dynasty. None of his offspring possesses the leadership charisma to take over the mantle. The family's political clout is ending. Oburu and Ruth Odinga lost in the nominations. His daughter, Rose, who had declared her candidature withdrew after falling ill and hospitalized in South Africa.
The 2017 election will not be an exception. Ramogi's curse is still trailing him and he will be defeated by a bigger margin than in 2013. The founding father of the Luo nation cannot allow him to ascend into power, except retain the religious following, reverence and hero worship by his people as a Ker, and from other desperate political orphans.