Annual Kisumu Impala Boat Race held at Impala park-Lake Victoria

The second edition of the annual Kisumu Impala Conservation Boat Race was successfully held at the weekend Kisumu Impala Sanctuary on Lake Victoria.The race with the theme ‘Let’s row to conserve the sitatunga’  aims to raise funds for the conservation of the endangered sitatunga antelope found in the wetland on the shores of Lake Victoria. The occasion was also used to create public awareness about investment opportunities in tourism, human wildlife conflict and display of tourism attractions in the region.
The boat race marked the peak of a three-day cultural event in Kisumu City. The three-day event included, cultural exhibition, dance troupes, tero buru procession and bull fighting, the climax being the boat racing.
The event was presided over by the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife Hon Dr Noah Wekesa who was accompanied by KWS Director, Mr William Kiprono. They were hosted by the area MP Hon Shakeel Shabir.

This year’s race had attracted 180 paddlers from Mbita, Usenge, Luanda K’Otieno, Ndere and Kisumu. This comprised 10 teams for men and women with each team having seven paddlers and two reserves. This brought to a total of 20 teams.
Men paddlers from Lwanda K’Otieno beach were awarded Sh100,000 after emerging winners followed by Lwanda Kamin Oningo who were awarded Sh60,000. In the third category were Usenge who won Sh40,000.
In the female category, women paddlers from Lwanda Kamin Oningo were awarded Sh100,000 after emerging winners followed by another team from Ndere who were awarded Sh60,000. In the third category were Usenge women paddlers who won Sh40,000.
Kenya Wildlife Service in conjunction with stakeholders  launched the inaugural Kisumu Impala Conservation Boat Race in 2011.
The race seeks to raise funds to conserve the rare sitatunga antelope found in Kisumu Impala  Sanctuary by the shores of the lake by constructing a 3-km perimeter wall fence at a cost of Sh28 million.
The race on the theme “Save the Sitatunga” gave the participating stakeholders a chance to showcase their products and activities as well as highlight the potential of Kisumu and Siaya counties as tourism investment and attraction destinations.
The aim of the event is to bring together members of the local communities and corporate organizations in the Lake Victoria region for sport, fun and fundraising.

KISUMU'S SITES:JARAMOGI MAUSOLEUM

The Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation has developed a one-stop community-based museum, the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Museum (JOOM) and Jaramogi Mausoluem situated at Jaramogi's homestead in Bondo, Western Kenya. The museum and monument serves as a cultural centre, a historical and national monument. The Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Mausoleum is a one-stop community-based museum and Luo Heros Exhibition Centre  It is managed by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) in partnership with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF).
Here one will see stuffed animals and other Luo cultural equipment and learn about famous traditional medicine men the community has ever had. The Oneko family has donated the entire homestead, a 25-acre piece of land, to the National Museums of Kenya to be used as a tourist attraction site.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, born in the second decade of this century, devoted his life to the service of this great nation Kenya and the people of Africa. As a teacher, leader, statesman and Pan-Africanist, he showed, both by his words and by the example of his life, the way forward, to truth, to peace and to justice.
He strove for excellence in all things and never compromised his principles and ideals. His commitment to integrity, and his courageous determination to stand firm in defense of what he knew was right, guided his life. His outpouring sympathy with the poor and disadvantaged in society was immeasurable. During his life time, he was a benefactor of many orphans and other disadvantaged Kenyans.
He had the highest respect for education and academic achievement. In honor of this great man, the Jaramogi Foundation continues with his life's work and espouse the universal values of social justice, respect for human rights, pursuit of peace and unity and support for people centered development.

KISUMU'S FAMOUS PEOPLE:JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA

 Oginga Odinga was born in Bondo,Nyanza Province. In his autobiography, Not Yet Uhuru, Odinga estimates the date of his birth to be October, 1911. Christened Obadiah Adonijah, he later renounced his Christian names and became known as Oginga Odinga. Little Odinga attended Maseno Secondary School and Alliance High School, finishing his formal education with a diploma in education from Makerere University College in 1939.

 From 1940 to 1942 Odinga taught mathematics at the Church Missionary Society School at Maseno, and from 1943 to 1946 he was headmaster of the Maseno Veterinary School.

Later in 1947, the father of seventeen moved to the business world, founding the Luo Thrift and Trading Corporation where he served as its managing director until 1962.

His efforts earned him admiration and recognition among the Luo, who revered him as Ker (spiritual leader) – a position previously held by the fabled ancestral Luo chief, Ramogi Ajwang, who reigned 400 years before him. Vowing to uphold the ideals of Ramogi Ajwang, Odinga became known as Jaramogi (man of the Ramogi people).

According to Luo tradition, a Ker could not be a politician, so Odinga relinquished his position as Ker in 1957 and became the political spokesman of the Luo.

The same year he was elected member of the Legislative Council for the Central Nyanza constituency, and in 1948 he joined the Kenya African Union (KAU).

In 1960, together with Tom Mboya he formed Kenya African National Union (KANU). When Kenya became an independent Republic in 1964, he was its first Vice-President.

As Vice-President he did not agree with Jomo Kenyatta's government, and he resigned his post and quit KANU in 1966 to form the Kenya People's Union (KPU).

The friction between Odinga and Kenyatta continued, and in 1969 Odinga was arrested after the two verbally abused each other publicly at a chaotic function in Kisumu.

He was detained for two years, and was consigned to political limbo until after Kenyatta's death in August 1978.

Kenyatta's successor, Daniel arap Moi, appointed Odinga as chairman of the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board. He did not last long in the post, presumably because he was still outspoken against Kenyatta's policies.

Odinga attempted to register a political party in 1982, but when the then Attorney General Charles Njonjo amended the constitution (which made Kenya a de jure single-party state), his plans were foiled.

In 1991 he co-founded and became the interim chairman of Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD). The formation of FORD triggered a chain of events that were to change Kenya's political landscape.

FORD split before the 1992 elections. On his part Odinga vied for presidency on Ford-Kenya ticket, but finished fourth with a share of 17.5% votes. However, he regained the Bondo Constituency seat after being forced out of parliamentary politics for over two decades.

Odinga died in 1994 and really the country had lost a great son, a nationalist, and a patriotic citizen.

The seventh edition of the Safaricom Kisumu Marathon

The 7th annual Kisumu marathon was ran yesterday 16th December 2012 with over 400 runners participating. It was a 10 km loop around the city which had the athletes going  round 4 times with the starting line at Equity bank, snaking through the major roads in Milimani and Nyalenda over four laps before the finish line at the Jomo Kenyatta sports ground.The 2nd oldest full marathon in the country had been postponed for about two weeks due to lack of sponsorships because of  the unpopularity of marathons in the region. Safaricom came to its rescue by sponsoring the marathon to the tune of 1.5 million with the men’s and women’s winners in the 42-kilometre race  each earned Sh200,000 with the first home runner across the line pocketing Sh10,000 extra. The race is usually characterized by its high humidity and heat perfect for a marathon race.
Daniel Kipkorir Kilimo won the men's title  clocking two hours, 14 minutes and 26 and former Amsterdam Marathon champion Magdalene Chenjor (2:31:32) took the first place in the women’s race.

There was also a five-kilometre race exclusively for Kisumu area runners with the men’s and women’s winners getting Sh7,000 and the cash awards, like in the marathon, going down to the 10th-place finisher.
There are future plans to elevate the race to jack pot status  with winners expected to pocket 1.5 million and  for it to be used as a try out event for international marathons and more races will be included to attract more participants like the kids, youth and veterans races.