Emotions ran high in Bondo today as thousands of mourners thronged the hometown of the late opposition leader Raila Odinga, ahead of his burial scheduled for tomorrow. In one of the day’s most talked-about moments, a man was filmed walking naked through the crowd, an act that stunned onlookers and spread rapidly across social media.
Cultural experts note that in Luo traditions, mourning is often a communal and emotionally charged process, where people cry, sing, wail, and sometimes express pain in ways that may seem unusual to outsiders. While public nudity is not part of standard practice, such moments of loss can trigger spontaneous symbolic acts that reflect deep emotional distress.
A Day of Disruption and Devotion
The scenes in Bondo mirror a week of extraordinary national mourning marked by massive crowds, spontaneous processions, and at times, chaos. Earlier today, police temporarily sealed off several roads leading into Bondo town as mourners pushed past security barriers to glimpse the late leader’s hearse. Businesses shut down, and local transport came to a standstill.
The crowd’s energy recalled previous disruptions, from the JKIA incident, where mourners overwhelmed airport operations as Raila’s body arrived in Nairobi from India, forcing the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to briefly suspend flights, to the Kasarani Stadium tragedy, where stampedes and police teargas left at least four people dead and dozens injured earlier in the week. The naked man’s act has drawn divided reactions online. Some viewed it as a sign of devotion and despair, while others condemned it as disrespectful.
