Kisumu Leaders Mourn Luo Council of Elders Chair Ker Willis Opiyo Otondi

By: Jane Beatrice Obila

Kisumu leaders have sent condolence messages to the family of Luo Council of Elders Chairman, Willis Otondi as they disclose the greatness and values he had through press releases.

Kisumu Governor, Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o who received news of Mr. Otondi’s death with shock said that the fallen had great political wisdom and negotiation skills that were beneficial to the Luo Community as these helped build connections with other communities in the country.

He further expressed that Otondi not only had a deep and accurate understanding of the Luo Community’s political, cultural, and economic interests but he also acted as a defender of them as well.

Nyong’o concluded by sending a condolence message to the late Mr. Otondi’s family, all elders, friends, people of Nyahera, and the entire Luo Community for losing such a prominent person.

Similarly, Hon. Elisha Oraro, Kisumu County Assembly speaker, also described Ker Otondi as an intelligent and dependable elder recognized for his ability to unite people. Elisha profound Nyong’o’s statement about Otondi’s insightfulness of Luo culture by saying that the late championed the utilization of the culture in promoting peaceful co-existence within the community and the entire region.

The chairman, he said, helped in solving differences the community had and was also a preacher of peace and unity in the country.

Ker Otondi who has been in and out of the hospital was announced dead by Hon. Elisha after he passed on at the Avenue Hospital today. He is currently the longest-serving Chairman of the Luo Council of Elders when compared to his predecessors

He became the chairman of the Luo Council of elders after he took over from the late Ker Riaga Omollo who succumbed to renal failure complications in 2015.

Unknown to many people, Otondi is the grandfather of media personality Willis Raburu who has since mourned him disclosing that he talked with him a day before his demise through a post on his social media platform.