An amateur picture of Roho church faithfuls at a past event
In her book Women of Fire and Spirit: Faith, History, and Gender in Roho Religion in Western Kenya, Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, explores the development of the Roho movement in Kenya.
She notes that there are at least 220 independent churches in the country, including the Musanda Holy Ghost Church of East Africa, the Ruwe Holy Ghost Church of East Africa, and the Cross Church of East Africa. These three churches share a common foundation rooted in the Roho (spirit ) movement of Western Kenya.
At the heart of this movement was one young man who seemed to have been obsessed with the white and wanted to set up a movement that is African inclined.
Alfayo Odongo Mango rebelled against the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and began preaching anti-white doctrines.
He was later labeled an enemy by the white colonialists, W E.Michael Owen The Archdeacon of Kavirondo at one point called him a deceiver.
Mango was a Luo who hailed from Ugenya Kager ,a clan which had partly settled in Musanda,an area claimed by Nabongo Mumia. So he had this tag of “jodak” meaning outsiders or tenants around his neck.
His constant agitation for the settlement of Jokager in Musanda made him the kager spokesman during their land dispute with the Abawanga.
At some point he moved back to his ancestral land in Ugenya after he was forcefully evicted from Musanda by the Abawanga supported by the Colonial Government.
Odongo was only allowed to return after he signed an agreement acknowledging that Musanda belonged to Abawanga and that he was just a tenant, further undertaking not to bring any of his clansmen to Musanda without permission from the Abawanga.
After settling back in Musanda, he teamed up with Lawi Obonyo another fiery preacher to spread the gospel of repentance and to prophecies the end of colonial rule.His homestead served as the Roho Movement headquarters.
On May 21st 1934 some women followers of Mango went to fetch water from a nearby stream when they were confronted by two Abawanga men.
A skirmish ensued and the Roho women beat the two men to death.
In the evening,hundreds of Abawanga men descended on Mango’s homestead to retaliate by setting it on fire.
Most of Mango’s followers escaped but he sat calmly reading his bible as his hut was engulfed in flames. Three Children also perished in the inferno.
Lawi Obonyo who served as his assistant,was killed the following day after being captured while other members died of spear wounds.
Odongo Mango was buried in Kakamega cemetery, but for fear of his grave becoming a shrine ,the Colonial Government secretly exhumed his body at night and transported it to Kampala .
The remains were reburied in Namirembe Cathedral Kampala where they lie to date.
Almost a century after the hernious murder of Odongo Mango and his confidants, the Roho church has grown rapidly stretching beyond Nyanza and Western Kenya.
Pastor William Adede, a clergy in Roho Musalaba church believes that in a decade to come, the church will go beyond Africa.
“We anticipate a global growth of this ministry, apparently we’re in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda and that is to say, we’re rooted in East Africa. Our ultimate long term goal is to spread the word to the world, beyond the African continent.” He says
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