Colonial Chief Odera Akango of Gem location is a man most remembered for his love for education. He is remembered for flogging parents who failed to take their children to school. In remembrance of Akango, the Siaya county government has now refurbished his colonial cell and office, which will now be a tourist attraction feature. Kevin Ogutu tells us the story of this man who died over a century ago but his works are still well remembered.
A relatively quiet afternoon in Yala town, the famed headquarters of Colonial Chief Odera Akango, who was born around the 1880s to Oloo Ramoya of the ruling Kagola clan in Gem, Siaya County. Until September last year, the Odera Akang’o cell stood its ground. It was however brought down by the County Government for safety reasons, but noting its significance, the County Government decided to put up this building, that borrowed heavily from the original cell and office for posterity.
Akango is credited for laying the foundation of education in Gem, an area that boasts of many educated men. During his heydays, Chief Akango constructed a private police force that was responsible for inspecting farms and reporting any idleness. This was the first-ever cell that was constructed by a Kenyan for lawbreakers. It is the construction of this cell that led to the coining of the name Yala town from the Luo word Yalowhich means to judge.
Historian Prof Bethuel Ogot from Gem, whose father was one of Odera Akango Askaris during his time, faults the iron-fist rule that would set him against the British officials. At the peak of the first world war, Odera Akango arrested a visiting DC.
In Umiru village in Gem, we meet 50-year-old George Owiti Nyamwanga. He rummages through this bag containing vital documents, and one of the things he manages to fish out is this photo of his great grandfather, Odera Akango. While Odera Akango is most remembered for introducing compulsory primary and secondary education, his own family did not buy the idea.
And while the Kikuyu nation is looking for freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi’s grave, historian Bethuel Ogot has not given up on finding Odera Akango’s grave.
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Gem of Siaya: Colonial chief who could flog parents for not taking their children to school
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