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Siaya Governor James Orengo today joined President William Ruto at the closing ceremony of the 5th Edition of the Piny Luo Cultural Festival in Migori County.<\/p>\nSiaya Governor James Orengo today joined President William Ruto at the closing ceremony of the 5th Edition of the Piny Luo Cultural Festival in Migori County.<\/p>\n
The three day festival themed: \"Luo Unity in Diversity: Harmonizing and Institutionalizing Our Heritage,\" aimed to showcase the community's traditional values, beliefs, artefacts, rites, and ways of life, while highlighting connections with neighbouring families from East African region, such as the Acholi from Uganda, Luos in Tanzania, parts of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival, President Ruto was welcomed by the ODM Party Leader Dr Oburu Oginga, Gov. Orengo, the host Governor for Dr. Ochilo Ayacko, Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga who doubles as the party's chairperson; and Kisumu Deputy Governor Prof. Dr. Matthews Owili' who represented Gov. Prof. Anyang' Nyong'o who is in Uganda for a similar event organized by the Luo community living in Uganda.<\/p>\n
Also on standby to receive the Head of State included senior community leaders in the broad-based government.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ruto then proceeded directly to Senye Beach and Thimlich Ohinga, where he witnessed several activities, including performances by the Migori County Choir.<\/p>\n
The President and his entourage were entertained with boat racing (piny yiedhi), traditional wrestling (Amen), a food fair (chiemo onagi), and diedo pi.<\/p>\n
Additionally, at Thimlich Ohinga, they enjoyed activities such as Tero Buru, a presentation on the Thimlich Giraffe Sanctuary by Ambassador Esther Akothe (representing KWS and NMK), a presidential coronation ceremony, legacy tree planting, a narration by Joyce Awandu, and a presidential caucus with the Luo Council of Elders.<\/p>\n
The President and the governors then proceeded to the main venue at Rongo University, where he announced a raft of National government development initiatives for the Luo Nation, focused on nurturing sports talents and skills for socio-economic prosperity.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging development initiatives by the National Government in Siaya County, Gov. Orengo, in his speech laced with past experiences, advised the Luo Nation to tread carefully while negotiating political pacts and alliances.<\/p>\n
The seasoned lawyer further called for strong political engagement anchored in constitutional dictates and legal agreements, to avoid leaving the community in political isolation.<\/p>\n
Governor Wanga and Dr. Oburu emphasized the need for community to remain united and enter negotiations for the national cake with one strong voice.<\/p>\n
They advocated for unity of purpose and economic relevance, while urging the Head of State to continue offering lucrative positions to the community's sons and daughters in major government appointments.<\/p>\n
Dr. Oburu thanked President Ruto for the posthumous respect and honours accorded to the late ODM Leader Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n
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President Ruto promised never to exclude the Luo nation from development and annual budgetary provisions by his administration. He announced allocations of KSh 4.5 billion for key infrastructural projects in the region's four counties, targeting the blue economy, sports, and talent development for economic and social wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Buoyed by the ecstatic reception, President Ruto urged the excited crowd not to waste their voting power in 2027, stating, \"If you agree, we will walk together so that we continue where our leader, the enigma Baba, left off.\" The crowd responded with roaring applause.<\/p>\n
The President also promised expansion of key cultural and sporting facilities to create jobs and gainful employment opportunities for the Luo community. This includes development of traditional artefacts and museums, enhancement of beaches across the region, including Usenge, Luanda K'Otieno, Senye Beach, and Thimlich Ohinga. He noted that these initiatives would promote tourism and enhance trade for the region's economic wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Delegations were entertained by performances from the University of Nairobi Chinese Confucius Institute, Luo groups, Nyamuga Primary School, Ramogi dances, Sigweya ( Luo Dirge) by Mzee Jotham Ajik, diaspora Luo performances, tug-of-war, and finals.<\/p>\n
At the closing session, speakers including Canon Dr. Ida Odinga, Prof. Adams Oloo, Chairperson of Duol Dr. James Nyikal ( Seme MP) delivered moving contributions and tributes in honour of past Luo leaders, some departed. They called for efforts towards prosperous unity and cohesion for the Luo Nation, praising the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and other community elders for promoting cultural interactions and a unified voice among the Luo and neighbouring communities speaking similar dialects\u2014from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, and other Luo-leaning counties.<\/p>\n
Other community leaders who accompanied the President included Cabinet Secretaries Hon. John Mbadi (National Treasury and Economic Planning) and Hon. Opiyo Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum); Principal Secretaries Raymond Omollo (Interior and National Coordination), Dr. Ouma Oluga (Medical Services), and Regina Ombam (Trade); Senators led by the host senator Hon. Eddy Oketch, several Members of Parliament led by the host MCA Hon Paul AbuorMCAs; county secretaries (including Siaya's Joseph Ogutu); county executives; chief officers; directors; and other county government staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Siaya Governor James Orengo today joined President William Ruto at the closing ceremony of the 5th Edition of the Piny Luo Cultural Festival in Migori County. The three day festival themed: “Luo Unity in Diversity: Harmonizing and Institutionalizing Our Heritage,” aimed to showcase the community’s traditional values, beliefs, artefacts, rites, and ways of life, while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}