There is an assumption now permeating discourses on numbers that the Luo do not have numbers.
At independence, the Luo, alongside the Kikuyu, were the two dorminant tribes by numbers.
In the successive years, the narrative has been that Luo numbers have dwindled considerably on account of HIV/AIDS etc.
The recent High Court nullification of 2019 North Eastern census figures should be a wake-up call for the Luo.
In northeastern, the leaders were shocked when in 2019, the results of certain constituencies were halfed.
Despite the somali’s legendary breeding spree, and without any pestilence, they were told their numbers had decreased!
They refused to accept the new figures and sued.
From 2019, despite men like Aden Duale ranking in Jubilee government power structures and holding parliament for the government, that case dragged on until recently, when the doctored figures were nullified by High Court and a fresh census ordered.
Ndegwa Njiru, acting for Murima, has appealed.
Be that as it may, we’ve been the principal antagonists of successive regimes since independence. It is only logical to assume that part of the counter-reaction by these regimes has been to deliberately lower Luo numerical strength.
The mathematician Mc’Olonde is working on the exact missing number.
See, even at the ravaging height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there was never a calamitous population decline.
We therefore must begin to have a conversation about how many we are as a people, because that’s important in this part of the world we find ourselves as indigenes.
The starting point is that the Luo must now take up IDs. Each Luo of adult age must have a National ID.
Like in many rural settings, it is still possible to live to prime old age in Luo Nyanza without a National ID.
The Luo village man and woman rarely ventures out of the Luo country. Within the Luo country, there’s usually no neccesity or urgency to get documented. There’s a history to this that I’ll argue in another post but for now, this must change.
Each Luo of adult age must have an ID. And with PS Omollo still at the helm of Interior, this is the time to correct this issue. There should be no encumbrances at all.
I am not saying you get an ID so that you vote for President Ruto in 2027 (kumi bila break). No, voting is by secret ballot. You can vote for Morara Kebaso if you want. But having an ID is critical and once you do, the rest of the decisions on how to use it will follow (guided democracy).
Those of us who come from Ndhiwa are about to get a bitumen/tarmac road, the Gor Mahia Ring Road, it means the government that’s building that road must stay in power to complete that road (hence, kumi bila break) and for this to happen, the vote of the village man and woman must now be cast, and counted, correctly.
ID registration is ongoing, nationally. Check with your local chief.
“Do not forget the celebrations”.
