Kalonzo: Nobody should associate Odinga family with ‘uganga’ and ‘uchawi’
By Mabonga Makhanu, November 6, 2025Former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has warned the nation against the negative labels that were directed at the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, with his opponents referring to him as ‘mganga’ and ‘mchawi’.
While speaking at Kango ka Jaramogi on Thursday, November 6, 2025, he expressed his dissatisfaction with how the late Raila was called demeaning names by his critics simply because he was championing a good cause for the country.
“And I want my brother to know that when it comes to bad governance, we will continue to resist. I want my brother lying here to know for the sake of this nation, they called him names. They said ni kwa maombi si kwa uchawi. This is not a mganga who is lying here. This is not a mchawi who is lying here,” Kalonzo stated.
He stated that Raila, now laid to rest, was not a “mganga” nor a “mchawi”, as some had claimed. Kalonzo added that such terms should never again be used to describe or associate the Oginga or Odinga family.
Kalonzo, who supported the late leader three times and deputised him in two accounts in a presidential race, said that if indeed the late was a mganga, as many had purported, he would have never worked with him for as long as he did.
“So we must get those things so our brother rests in peace, and nobody should ever use those names again or associate the Oginga or Odinga family with uchawi or uganga. On my part, I will never have worked with a mganga or a mchawi,” Kalonzo added.
Raila’s days in trenches
He went on to recall how he and Raila survived in the trenches, with them at one point almost losing their lives.
Kalonzo recounted that during the demonstrations, he and Raila were targeted in what he described as a deliberate attempt to kill them.
“When Kenyans were saying the cost of living was unbearable, some of us wore sufurias; we nearly got killed,” he said.
“Raila and I escaped from Embakasi South. How we did it was amazing. It was like the orders given that day were to kill us, maybe kill Raila Odinga, but we escaped to Karen in Raphael Tuju’s place.”