There had been a push and pull atmosphere between Kenya’s second President Daniel Moi and first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, with each belonging to completely different sides of the political spectrum.
Matters got worse after founding father Jomo Kenyatta’s death, when Moi’s heavy hand started landing on opposition leaders, including Jaramogi and Raila, creating a wound between the KANU and Ford Kenya leaders.
Their enmity in life was so acrimonious, that even the cold fingers of death, on January 24, 1994, could not thaw the thick ice between the two leaders.
Raila wrote in his book,Ā The Flame of Freedom, that a close ally SenatorĀ James Orengo was tasked with informing President Moi of the death of Jaramogi and to request for a means to transport the body from Kisumu to Nairobi.
“Orengo broke the news to a shocked President Moi, who offered his condolences and then moved on to practical matter, asking Orengo which kind of aircraft was required,” he stated.
This was the last time the president was extending a charitable gesture to Jaramogi’s family.
When the news of the deathĀ was made known to the public, the country, gripped with shock and sorrow, launched passionate calls that he be granted a state funeral since he was a national leader who had paid the price alongside Jomo and Moi.
The head of state, however, wanted nothing to do with it. He declined to allow a public viewing or even a state funeral for Jaramogi, but he gave the family the option to choose where they would want his remains to be interred.
After the funeral preparations had been done, Raila and his family decided that their patriarch would be buried atĀ Uhuru Gardens. Minutes before the public announcement, the Moi government issued a parallel statement, stating that the offer to bury Jaramogi at the gardens had been withdrawn.
“We knew that, no matter how many rulings the government might make, nothing would prevent the people of Kenya from giving Jaramogi the send-off he deserved,” Raila wrote.
He further stated that the family carried on with their preparations undeterred. They organized a memorial ceremony at Uhuru Park, before the body was taken to his rural Kisumu for burial.
There, Raila witness saw the height of the government’s lack of concern and utter disrespect for Jaramogi.
“Only a Ford Kenya flag flew at half-mast. The other masts where the national flags should have flown stood bare. No government order had been given that the country’s flags should fly at half-mast to mark the death of Jaramogi,” Raila stated.
Jaramogi was finally buried at his ruralĀ Kisumu home, in a funeral that the KANU leaders gave a wide berth.
