Oburu Odinga: There was never a rift between Kenyatta and Jaramogi

Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga has set the record straight on the alleged rift between the patriarchs of the Oginga and Kenyatta families.

Speaking during the 30th memorial service of his father Jaramogi Oginga, Oburu affirmed that the relationship that existed between the two founding families was bonded with strong ties.

He underscored that contrary to beliefs, his father respected Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and regarded him as his hero, adding that any disagreements between the two were not tribal or ethnic but genuine ideological differences.

While setting the record stratight, the senator also assured Kenyans that Mzee Kenyatta was never against the Luo reiterating that the conflict between the two was ideological differences that should happen in any healthy political atmosphere.

“I want to tell you people who think there was a very big rift between Jaramogi and Mzee Kenyatta that Kenyatta was respected by Jaramogi and Jaramogi regarded Mzee Kenyatta as his hero up to the time of his death. When Jaramogi was mourning Mzee Kenyatta he mourned him as a hero, they disagreed on ideological issues, Jaramogi believed in one way to deliver services and Mzee Kenyatta believed in another one.

“Because of that some people are mistaking that Mzee Kenyatta was against the Luo. Mzee Kenyatta was not against the Luo. The disagreements between the families were not tribal, they were not ethnic, they were ideological and therefore genuine ideological differences which should happen in a healthy political atmosphere all over the world,” Oburu stated.

Further, the senator affirmed that the two families will continue strengthening their relationships and correcting whichever mistakes were made by their fathers.

“We appreciate and we will continue to cement those relationships. We will continue to revise and correct whatever mistakes if there were any made by them and we shall remain friends forever with the Kenyatta family,” he added.