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Goodbye George: ODM boss Ong’wen legally drops ‘European’ name
A senior official of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has formally dropped his “European” name.
Formerly known as George Fannuel Oduor Ong’wen, the ODM Executive Director will now be known only as Oduor Ong’wen, according to the latest issue of the Kenya Gazette
“[He has] formally and renounced and abandoned the use of his former name George Oduor Ong’wen alias George Fannuel Oduor Ong’wen, and in lieu thereof assumed and adopted the name Oduor Ong’wen, for all purposes and authorises and requests all persons at all times to designate, describe and address him by his assumed name Oduor Ong’wen only,” reads the gazette notice.
He had made the name change application through the Orego and Odhiambo Advocates firm.
Mr Ong’wen is among those involved in Kenya’s second liberation movement. He was also the secretary-general of the University of Nairobi’s students’ union when the push for multi-party democracy was at its peak.
“He later worked in the Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini) where he served for 10 years as the country director for Kenya. He left Seatini in 2015 to become the executive director of ODM,” reads his description published in his 2022 book, Stronger than Faith.
Mr Ong’wen did not immediately respond to Nation Africa inquiries on the changes.
An instance where his full name is used is found in a book by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung listing the victims of the infamous Nyayo House torture chambers. He is listed ninth as “Ong’wen, George Fanuel Oduor”.
Mr Ongw’en is one of the many celebrated Kenyans who have officially dropped their “Christian” names. Others include Miguna Miguna, who formally dropped the name “Joshua” in 1997 while in Canada.
Kenya’s founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, also dropped his name “Johnstone” years before Kenya gained independence.
The same case applies to Koigi wa Wamwere, another Second Liberation figure, who is often reluctant to reveal his baptism name because, as he told Nation previously, he has never considered it his name in the first place.
“I dropped that name because I considered it a constant reminder of the colonial subjugation and past. For those reasons, and the fact that I would like it to remain buried in the vaults of forgotten history, I don’t like mentioning or saying what it was,” he told Nation in 2012.
In the same vein, author Ngugi wa Thiong’o dropped his name “James” and even chose to write in his native Kikuyu language in his effort to “decolonise.” He legally changed his name in 1977.
The late Orie Rogo Manduli was given the baptismal name Mary Snessor. However, later in life, she found it to be quite cumbersome and dropped it.
“I believed my identity lay with my maternal grandmother Orie, whose genes I carry,” she told Nation in a previous interview.
A number of figures in Kenya’s political landscape also omit their “European” names even when they have not formally dropped them. Among them is Prof Kithure Kindiki, the new Deputy President, who rarely uses his first name “Abraham”. Kiraitu Murungi is another example, as are Ndindi Nyoro and Kimani Ichungw’ah. Others like Kiambu governor Kimani wa Matangi and former county chiefs Mike Sonko and Ferdinand Waititu Babayao have officially adopted their nicknames.,
eondieki@ke.nationmedia.com
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