Raila anniversary: Kang'o ka Jaramogi emerges as a fortress of knowledge and history

A rear view of the Raila Odinga Mausoleum which is about 95 percent complete ahead of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s memorial set for October 15, 2026, at Kang’o Kajaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County. [Daniel Ogendo, Standard]

At Kang’o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County, history is taking a new physical form. The ancestral home that witnessed the political life of Kenya’s first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and later became closely associated with his son, former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga, is undergoing a major transformation ahead of Raila’s first anniversary.

The home is slowly evolving into a memorial and heritage site, with two generations of the Odinga family’s political history brought together through mausoleums, photographs, artworks, landscaping and other features expected to tell the story of Kenya’s political journey.