Luo Council Chairman under fire for cursing those who do not support Ruto re-election

A section of Luo elders want Ranga to apologize over his remarks or resign from his position.

On Sunday, during prayer and thanksgiving organised by Homa Bay County Woman Representative Dr Joyce Osogo, Randa threatened to curse members of the Luo community who go against the call by Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Oginga and the party chairperson Gladys Wanga to support Ruto’s re-election. 

The vice Chairman of the Greater Rachuonyoe Elders Forum, Moth Aroko, on Tuesday said Randa’s comments were divisive. He said the 'Ker' has lost direction in his role as a cultural leader.

Mzee Aroko argued that a cultural leader should focus on uniting the community regardless of their political affiliations.

"Elders, whether it is an elder of Luo, should be neutral persons. What Ker Odungi Randa uttered is an unfortunate statement. I'm kindly requesting Bwana Odungi Randa to apologize to Kenyans and Luos at large over his unfortunate statement. He said that if you cannot follow our leaders, you will be cursed," said Aroko.  

The elder argued that utterances of curses are strong statements that should not be made recklessly by leaders. 

"As an elder, as per our culture, that is a very strong statement which should not come from an elder who is a Ker who is leading Luo in all aspects of cultural and political," he stated. 

The Secretary of the Ndhiwa Elders Forum for Socio-economic Development, Alfred Ogao, and Larence Airo also accused Randa of abdicating his role as a cultural leader.

The senior citizen told the Luo community to ignore Randa’s threats of curses, saying that Randa lacks the power to curse any member of the community for going against his political direction.