Speaking during a rally in Homa Bay on Thursday, July 23, Orengo questioned what he described as unresolved injustices involving prominent Luo leaders, including Mboya, and suggested that some of those deaths have never been fully explained.
Orengo’s remarks quickly turned into one of the day’s biggest political talking points. In his address, the governor also referenced the death of former prime minister Raila Odinga, claiming, without presenting evidence, that the government had a hand in Raila’s death in India.
He said leaders should not remain silent about the fate of influential figures from the region and argued that the public still does not know who was behind Mboya’s killing.
Tom Mboya’s assassination remains one of Kenya’s most painful political tragedies. According to the report, Mboya was gunned down on July 5, 1969, along Government Road, now Moi Avenue, in Nairobi after leaving a pharmacy.
His death shocked the country and has remained a major reference point in Kenya’s political history for more than five decades.
Orengo went further and mentioned other Luo political figures whose deaths have also remained subjects of public debate, including Argwings Kodhek and Robert Ouko.
He used the moment to underline his broader argument that the region has endured repeated historical wounds that, in his view, have never been properly addressed. He also declared that he was now ready to take up Raila’s political mantle.
His comments, however, did not go unanswered. Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo responded during a fundraiser at Ober Boys High School in Homa Bay on Friday, July 24, and dismissed attempts to connect President Ruto to Mboya’s assassination. Omollo pointed out that Ruto was still a child when Mboya was killed and had not even started school at the time.
Omollo also urged residents to move away from what he described as a culture of endless political agitation and confrontational politics. He argued that the region should focus more on development and unity, rather than reviving divisive debates.
In remarks that appeared aimed at Orengo, he said the governor had been in Parliament long before he himself was born, yet was still promoting protest politics instead of helping to unite the region.
The exchange has once again highlighted the emotional weight of Kenya’s political history, especially in communities that have long carried questions around the deaths of key leaders.
By invoking Tom Mboya’s assassination, Orengo revived a debate that remains sensitive more than half a century later, while Omollo’s response reflected the government’s pushback against efforts to link today’s leadership to events from 1969.
For now, the row is likely to keep attracting attention because it sits at the intersection of history, politics, and regional loyalty.
Orengo’s speech framed the issue as one of unfinished justice, while Omollo’s reaction positioned it as an unhelpful political distraction.
What is clear is that Tom Mboya’s death still carries enormous symbolic power in Kenya’s public debate, and any mention of it remains politically explosive.
0 Comments