Raila challenges Kisii county to honour firebrand ex-MP Morara
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Opposition chief Raila Odinga yesterday challenged Kisii Governor James Ongwae to honour former West Mugirango MP George Morara (pictured) who died in a mysterious road accident 50 years ago.
The move follows a request by family members of the firebrand former MP who died on the Kakamega-Kisumu road.
Speaking at the Gusii Stadium in Kisii county during the Mashujaa Day celebrations yesterday, the former Premier challenged the Kisii county government to name one landmark facility in honour of Morara.
“His daughter Sandy told me that Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa and Kisumu have roads named after her father but none here in Kisii. I am challenging the governor to name a street here in Kisii in honour of George Morara,” he said.
“We have many heroes here; the late Senior Chief Musa Nyandusi, Lawrence Sagini, James Nyamweya, George Moseti Anyona, and many others. There is another one called George Morara who was not fully recognised,” said the PM.
Morara was the first MP for West Mugirango after it was curved from the larger North Mugirango Borabu, one of the special constituencies established to accommodate members to the Legislative Council of Kenya (Legco).
Information at the National Archives of Kenya shows that when the Legco was abolished, members to the council who were the country’s first senators were rendered jobless and the government had to find a way of accommodating them because of their contributions.
North Mugirango Borabu was then created for Senator John Kebaso, and later split to form West Mugirango, which Morara occupied for just eight months before he met his death.
The death occurred on September 12, 1970, and for the last five decades the family has been seeking the truth on his death, terming it mysterious.
Last weekend, Raila hosted the late Morara’s daughter, Sandy, at the family’s request which was facilitated by human rights activist, George Kegoro.
“We met with Baba in his home in Karen and presented to him the case of George Morara and he said he knew him as an outspoken MP and leader.
We asked that consideration be given to a mention of George Morara during the Mashujaa Day,” Kegoro said last evening.
While in the US, Morara, came into contact with civil rights luminaries, including the late Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X whom he met while a student leader at the Buffalo University.
