Winnie Odinga best-suited to replace Raila as Luo Nyanza kingpin

Winnie Mandela Odinga during the Azimio la Umoja National Convention on 10th December 2021 at Moi International sports complex Kasarani Stadium. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

From the teases that she would have her wedding on the lawns of State House to the most daring of better sleep with a horse than with some State House blokes, Winnie Odinga is a daring 'Nya dyang' (I will explain the meaning later). Named after Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a South African apartheid heroine, Kenyans cannot ignore the ghosts of her archetype.

To describe Winnie's energetic, vibrant and ambitious quest to succeed her father as Luo kingpin, I have to refer to the 'Daughter of the low land', a poem by Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, where the term 'Nya dyang' features. My oral literature don back then, Fugich Waqo, liked the ka-poem-I hope he still does.