Raila Junior's Early Morning Emotional Post, Showing His Grandfather's Last Tribute to Jomo Kenyatta Moves Kenyans

Grief met history in the early hours when Raila Odinga Junior shared a 51-second video reel on X, capturing his grandfather, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, performing a solemn Luo tribute to Kenya’s founding president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

The clip sourced from kavazi_official shows Jaramogi, Kenya’s first Vice President, standing with family members in 1978.

Holding an orengo, the traditional Luo fly whisk of authority, he moves it slowly across his body while chanting in deep, resonant Luo.

Words like “jowi” a mournful invocation to the spirits fill the air, honoring Kenyatta’s passing despite years of political rivalry.

The timing carries raw emotional weight. Raila Odinga, Jaramogi’s son and Raila Junior’s father, was buried just three weeks ago on October 19 in Bondo after succumbing to illness in India.

His state funeral drew thousands, with President William Ruto and former President Uhuru Kenyatta among the dignitaries.

Now, in the stillness of mourning, Raila Junior turns to ancestral ritual for comfort.

“This is how we mourn. This is how we remember,” he wrote in replies to the post, which quickly surpassed 12,000 views.

Kenyans responded in kind: “From Jaramogi to Baba, the spirit lives,” one user wrote. Another reflected, “Even in death, they honored each other.”

Historians note the tribute’s significance. Though Jaramogi resigned in 1966 over policy disputes with Kenyatta, his public mourning signaled respect beyond politics.

For Raila Junior, the reel is both legacy and lifeline, linking three generations of Kenya’s political soul through shared sorrow and unbroken tradition.