Ramogi Achieng Oneko (1920–2007) was a Kenyan freedom fighter and a politician. In Kenya, he is considered as a national hero. He was born in Tieng'a village in Uyoma sub-location in

Bondo District Bondo District was an administrative district in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Bondo. The Bondo District had a population of 238,78 The district was relatively new; it was created in 1998 from southern parts of the Siay ...

in 1920 and educated at

Maseno School Maseno School is among the oldest formal education school in Kisumu County in Kenya. It was established in 1906 by the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) as a school for the children of African chiefs. The first administrator o ...

Detention

Oneko was one of the six freedom fighters arrested by the British colonial government in

Kapenguria Kapenguria is a town lying north east of Kitale on the A1 road in Kenya. Kapenguria is capital of the West Pokot County. Kapenguria forms a municipality with an urban population of 13,000 and a total population of 56,000 (1999 census). Kapenguria ...

in 1952. Other members of the group, known as "

Kapenguria Six The Kapenguria Six – Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Achieng' Oneko – were six leading Kenyan nationalists who were arrested in 1952, tried at Kapenguria in 1952–53, and imprisoned thereafter in No ...

" were

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigenous ...

Paul Ngei The Honourable Paul Joseph Ngei (18 October 1923 – 15 August 2004) was a Kenyan politician who was imprisoned for his role in the anti-colonial movement, but who went on to hold several government ministerial positions after Kenya became indepe ...

Bildad Kaggia Bildad Mwaganu Kaggia (1921 – 7 March 2005) was a Kenyan nationalist, activist, and politician. Kaggia was a member of the Mau Mau Central Committee. After independence he became a Member of Parliament. He established himself as a militant, fi ...

, Kungu Karumba and

Fred Kubai Fred Kubai (1917–June 1, 1996) was one of the Kapenguria Six, members of the Kenya African Union arrested in 1952, tried and imprisoned. He was a Kikuyu people, Kikuyu, and a leader of the Kenya Transport Workers Union and the East African Trade ...

. They were arrested for allegedly being linked with the

Mau Mau rebellion The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', ...

movement.The Standard: 16 June 2007: Oneko was charged as "Accused No.3." After they were convicted, all six appealed the conviction. The appeal judges found that Oneko had largely been convicted on the weight of an KAU meeting he had attended. The statements at the meeting were mostly in Kikuyu, which he did not understand at the time. Although the judges acquitted him of the charges on 15 January 1954, he was still held in detention with the other Kapenguria Five. They were released nine years later, in 1961, two years before Kenya gained independence. The Standard, 16 August 2004:

Politics

The first parliamentary election were held on independence in 1963 and Achieng Oneko won the

Nakuru Town Constituency Nakuru Town Constituency is a former electoral constituency in Kenya. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. The entire constituency was located within Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the c ...

seat.Center for Multiparty Democracy
Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007
Jomo Kenyatta became the first president of Kenya and soon appointed Achieng Oneko Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Tourism. However, in 1966 Oneko quit the government and joined the newly created

Kenya People's Union The Kenya People's Union (KPU) was a socialist political party in Kenya led by Oginga Odinga. The party was banned in 1969. History Formation In March 1966 a left-wing faction of the governing Kenya African National Union (KANU) instigated a ...

, a socialist party led by his comrade

Oginga Odinga Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga (October 1911 – 20 January 1994) was a Luo chieftain who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader. Odinga ...

. In 1969 Oneko was arrested by his former friend Kenyatta following an incident in

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victor ...

during Kenyatta's visit to the town. Oneko was released in 1975. Oneko returned to politics in 1992 when he was elected as an MP at the first multiparty elections in Kenya. He represented Ford-Kenya party, led by Oginga Odinga. However, he lost his

Rarieda Constituency Rarieda Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies in Siaya County, and one of two constituencies in the former Bondo District Bondo District was an administrative district in the former Nyanza Province of K ...

seat at the next elections held in 1997.

Legacy

Oneko died of a heart attack aged 87 on 9 June 2007 at his home in Kunya village, Rarieda, Bondo District.Daily Nation, 10 June 2007:
Achieng Oneko dies, aged 87
' Oneko left a widow Loice Anyango. His eldest wife Jedida died in 1992. He has 11 children, seven sons and four daughters. His oldest son is Dr Ongonga Achieng. At the time of his death, Oneko was the only one of the "Kapenguria six" still alive. Mashujaa Day (previously known as Kenyatta Day until the promulgation of the new Kenya constitution on 27 August 2010) is a national holiday in Kenya that commemorates the detention of the Kapenguria Six on 20 October 1952.Kenya Times, 23 October 2005:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneko, Achieng Kenyan rebels 1920 births 2007 deaths Prisoners and detainees of Kenya Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Kenyan socialists Kenya People's Union politicians Alumni of Maseno School

Detention

Politics

Legacy

See also

References