Senator Oburu Odinga, brother to the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has explained the ritual performed on Raila Junior to take over as the head of the Raila family.
Speaking during the event on Thursday, October 23, at the family home in Bondo, Siaya County, Oburu detailed the ceremony's cultural significance and the traditions that guided the installation process.
Oburu said the ceremony was meant to symbolically transfer the home's leadership to the departed leader's son.
"To symbolically give the son of the departed, my brother, the late Raila Amollo Odinga, his son, Junior Raila, the seat of power of the home. The seat of the power of the home is now the leader of this home, together with the mum, the mum will be there to give him all the advices he needs, but he must stand firm, he must stand firm and lead the home as per our culture," Oburu stated.
The Siaya Senator emphasized that the installation was not about political leadership but rather the cultural leadership of the family home.
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"This is not political leadership, but this is the leadership of the home. The larger Odinga family, which I chair and which I lead, he is still under me, just like his father was also still under me when it came to the cultural leadership of the home," he explained.
Oburu detailed why the ceremony was conducted on the fourth day after burial, explaining its importance in Luo culture.
"We are going to do the normal rituals, which we normally do as per our traditions, and we are going to start because today is the fourth day. My brother was buried on Sunday, last week, and if we count from Sunday to last night, it is exactly four nights," he said.
He explained that according to Luo tradition, the fourth night marks the official end of the funeral proceedings.
"And that is in our culture, the fourth night, after the fourth night, that is the day now normally the funeral ends officially. That is when now the Waguguni, those who are married elsewhere, the girls, they go back to their houses and they go back to their husband," Oburu stated.
He added that the fourth day also marks when male family members are officially allowed to return to their homes after spending nights at the family home.
"That is when the boys, who should have been spending the whole night up to last night, they were not supposed to go back to their houses. It is today that they are now officially allowed to go back to their houses and even touch their wives, if they have," he explained.
Oburu described the ritual process Raila Junior would undergo during the installation ceremony.
"So today we want to give this home blessings, and we want Junior, you, to take the leadership, and take the mantle, and you will go through the ritual. It will start with a little shaving, I know Mama Ida might not want to be shaved, but Junior will do a little shaving for you, and your wife," Oburu stated.
He added that Raila Junior would be given the instruments of power after the shaving ceremony.
"After that, little shaving is done, then you are going to be given the necessary instruments of power, and you will display it, and then things will continue," he said.
During the ceremony, one of his grandmothers shaved Raila Junior's head. He was then dressed in cultural attire and given a Luo shield and a spear to symbolize his new role as the leader of the home.
The event was attended by members of the Odinga family, relatives, community elders, and politicians who gathered to witness the traditional installation ceremony.
