The social distancing rules in the country were disturbed last weekend when hordes of relatives and friends of legendary Paramount Chief Gor Mahia Ogada (Gor K’Ogalo) family converged at his homestead.

Friends from far and wide made their way to what has become an annual pilgrimage to the burial site of one of Luo community’s revered sons.

Despite the small crowd well controlled by the administration in the region, few braved the morning rains and the hot afternoon sun to perform a ritual that befits the man’s status in a community that puts emphasis on such remembrance occasions.

“This time round, we are happy that the interruptions were not there. The politicians and their supporters did not come along.

Probably because of the Covid-19, the people around were manageable and the church has been supportive. The family feels honoured,” said Luke Omondi ‘Kadori’.

Kadori said the family was still planning for a monument that befits the last Paramount Chief of South Nyanza. Plans are at an advanced stage to pool up resources to facilitate the building.

Elders from the Kanyamwa Clan conducted the rituals that marked the first century of the fallen legend’s death coincidentally on the same Friday that he passed on 100 years ago (he died on May 15, 1920).

Led by his surviving grandson Mwalimu Joseph Ogada, the clergy in Ndhiwa and Migori, they called on the thousands of football fans who follow the football club that he was named after to help the family achieve  their long-held wish.

The grave site remains as it was due to instructions he left behind (that it should remain the way it is) but has taken a beating from the changing weather patterns.

“We are all happy that we have lived to celebrate Gor Mahia’s 100 death anniversary. As his family, we have always been told to honour him and remember him in a special way.

This time round, we had the church in Homa Bay and Migori joining us for the special occasion and we are grateful to all those who have stood by us.

We feel honoured and call upon the younger generation to keep his memory alive,” said Ogada, a teacher in Mirogi town.