This archive report was first published on 19 July 2019.
On January 28, 2018, the Luo Nyanza Regional People's Assembly, comprising representatives from Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori, and Siaya counties, gathered in Homa Bay Town to chart their political destiny.
They extended a hand of friendship to their brothers and sisters who had embraced the People's Assembly, and looked forward to sitting with them in the National Convention to resolve the political injustices they had suffered under colonialism and neo-colonialism.
The assembly was honored by the presence of President Raila Amolo Odinga, Deputy President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, and leaders from other parts of the republic.
Luo Nyanza has a long history of carrying the torch for freedom, democracy, and nationhood since colonial times. Their leaders have sacrificed personal ambitions in the spirit of nationhood, but this spirit has been trampled time and time again.
The assembly recalled the travesty of justice that had brought them together, beginning with the brutal murder of Chris Msando. They prayed for his soul and that of the many others who suffered the same fate before him.
On October 26, 2017, no presidential election was conducted in Luo Nyanza, and instead, the principled stand of the people was met with indiscriminate state violence, killing men, women, and children.
The assembly resolved to reiterate that they did not recognize the illegitimate presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta and would not accept the institutionalization of sham elections in Kenya. They vowed to pursue electoral justice without fear or favor and to secure justice for the victims of police violence during the 2017 general election, including bringing to book the murderers of Chris Msando.
They declared that the Luo Nation would never accept to live under dictatorship and would participate and support the People's Assembly process until democracy was restored or they went their separate ways.
