By Anderson Ojwang
They vandalised his grave last week, then disappeared as discretely as was the man’s burial more than a half a century ago.
Sixty-seven years ago, one of Kenya’s least celebrated freedom fighters was buried in West Karachuonyo, with colonial police keeping guard. Not even the immediate family members were allowed to view the body the police had transported from Kisumu.
The late Daniel Ojijo Oteko famous for his Piny Owacho Movement (the world has said) and the founder of Kavirondo Tax Welfare Association was among pioneer freedom fighters.
Ojijo died in 1942 in mysterious circumstances. It was then said a fish bone had stuck between his teeth, but no one believed this was the cause of the death.
And as if the controversy that stalked him in life followed him to his grave, last week, yet to be identified people dug up his grave, hoping to retrieve his remains at his Kanjira village of Karachuonyo constituency, Nyanza Province. The motive of the exhumation has not been established.
At the burial, the colonial government denied relatives and friends the opportunity to view the body, which was buried 10 feet deep, as security officers watched.
His widow, Mama Wilkister Akong’o, says the Provincial Administration and the security officers stopped mourners from viewing the body and threatened them with arrest if they broke the coffin.
This created suspicion that some parts of Ojijo’s body could have been taken away because he was regarded as a troublemaker to the then colonial government.
Championing people’s rights
It is whispered across the province that the colonial government could have taken Ojijo’s skull for preservation in Britain because he was a ‘genius’.
Villagers at the vandalised grave of pioneer freedom fighter Daniel Ojijo. Photo: James Keyi/Standard |
She says many adored Ojijo because he championed their rights. He was opposed to forced taxation that was being levied on his people by the colonial administration.
"One day while he was coming from Kisii town, on reaching Alego in Karachuonyo, he found tens of heads of cattle from West Karachuonyo being driven away by security, and some white men as tax.
"He told the white man that it was wrong for them to drive away the cattle after they had taken the young men to go fight in World War II. He re-routed the flock to West Karachuonyo," she says.
She says when the mzungu (white man) asked why he had diverted the cattle, Ojijo retorted ‘Piny Owacho’ – wananchi had said.
Kisumu businessman Kwanya Odidi, whose late father Johnson Odidi was personal assistant to Ojijo, says the pioneer freedom fighter was a human rights activist, and an associate of the great grandfather to US president Barack Obama.
Strong links
Akong’o corroborated the statement saying the two were friends and shared moments in championing the rights of the people, with Obama leading the East and Ojijo West Karachuonyo, against the colonialism.
But their actions angered the then Karachuonyo chief Paulo Mbuya who told Obama to return to his Alego home instead of being a troublemaker.
"Obama left, but he said his forcible return to Alego, Siaya District, would not destroy his friendship with Ojijo, and that they would continue fighting for the people," Kwanya told The Standard on Sunday.
The Obamas had migrated from Alego to Karachuonyo, where his sister was married to escape famine. They lived in the area for decades before the falling out. Part of the larger Obama clan is still in Karachuonyo, around Kendu Bay.
Kwanya says Ojijo had strong links with pioneer elite and leaders from other communities, stretching up to Central Province.
He says Ojijo was a great friend of Gor Mahia, the chief of Ndhiwa, whose name the football club, Gor Mahia carries.
The pioneer’s brother, Washington Oteko, says Ojijo had links with the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Peter Mbiyu Koinange who visited their rural home in a wooden vehicle.
"My brother also went for a meeting in Githunguri where they discussed various issues affecting the country. I saw bearded and bushy people come to our home. They spent hours talking on various issues and would later escape through the hills or lake to avoid arrest by the colonial administrators," he says.
Ojijo attended Maseno School before proceeding to the United States for further studies. Upon return, he worked as a telegraphic officer at Kisumu Post Office.
"My husband studied in America and when he returned, he named his village ‘America’ and we have our local church, ‘America’. But he opted out of work to engage in freedom struggle," says the widow, who is still ebullient.
Ojijo was born in 1896 and started engaging in human rights activism and politics in the late 1910s, working with Harry Thuku, from Central Province and others.
In Central Province Thuku founded Kikuyu Central Association in 1919, while Ojijo formed Kavirondo Tax Welfare Association in 1920. They were protesting against the cash economy of the colonial government.
Political leaders from Nyanza often invoke the spirits of Ojijo wuod Yimbo at functions and have respect for his legacy.
At his village, last week, it was another turn to mourn after his grave was vandalised. His widow was left wondering what the intention of the people could be.
However, various theories have been advanced regarding the exhumation. One has it that some people seeking the political office could have been advised by a witch doctor to exhume the bones for rituals to make them ‘successful’.
PIONEER FIGHTER
Another theory has it that because West Karachuonyo has been producing local MPs since independence, denying people from East an opportunity to lead, so the suspects removed the remains to realise their dreams.
Five of six Karachuonyo MPs have come from West Karachuonyo, known locally as Yimbo, and Ojijo is famously known as son of Yimbo.
The residents now want the Government to honour Ojijo and build a mausoleum in his memory besides the streets named after him. Ojijo Road in Nairobi, from Museum Roundabout through to Westlands is named after this pioneer fighter. There is also Ojijo Road in Kisumu and other towns.
"The Government should honour him as one of the pioneer freedom fighters… his contributions cannot be downplayed," pleads his widow, who has never been invited to any ‘Uhuru’ day celebration by any regime.
