🦁 When the Lion Rests, the Lioness Roars: Why My Money Is on Winnie
“Baba rests. Juogi stirs. The lioness steps forward.” #SameForest #DifferentMonkeys
Header Image: Raila Odinga sunset portrait – “Kwaheri Baba”
Image Credit: Courtesy / Nation Media Group
From the moment I heard of Raila Odinga’s death, I knew.
Everyone who could write, type, or forward a message would join the national juogi.
That’s what makes this one hard.(and thats why its late)
Do I pivot to another topic or join the choir?
Truth is, I do better as part of a team — so give me my gown and spare a space somewhere between baritone and alto-bass, let choir sing.
So here’s my attempt at tiptoeing on eggshells.
⚡ What Is Juogi?
I was looking for “experts” to guide me, but as you know, none of them is picking up calls this week. I’m sure the purists will excuse my floundering…… this time.
So what is juogi, really, from the perspective of an innocent bystander fascinated by everything Luo from Odongo Swagg to achwaka, pelele to rituals and mourning customs?
Juogi, in Luo cosmology, are the living spirits of ancestry — unseen forces that dwell between the living and the dead.
They can protect or disturb. They don’t care about wealth or title.
“The Luo believe in the existence of the spirits called Juogi… divided into good and bad, known and unknown.” — Elements of Luo Traditional Sacrifice, RSIS International
“According to Luo philosophic discourse, juogi (plural of juok) refers to spirits traditionally active in society.” — Ocholla-Ayayo, 1980
Juogi is consciousness that hovers — cautious, surreptitious, undistracted by noise.
It doesn’t fill vacuums.
Juogi finds — juogi is not found. (ama aje Chibi)
And when a great lion falls, it waits.
It searches.
It settles where legacy must live next.
🕯️ The Lion Sleeps
Today feels heavy.
Maybe it’s switching between Baba’s final journey and searching for his vitendawili clips on YouTube.
Even the jeshi at the ma3 stage looked subdued.
The air itself seemed tired.
We’re taught in sales to avoid politics and religion.
But this moment is both.
🦁 The Lioness Steps Forward
Image Credit: The Star Kenya / X @Winnie_Odinga
When the lion rests, the lioness roars.
My money is on her.
Winnie Odinga — daughter, student, successor — already carries a name that moves rooms.
She’s done her time at the East African Legislative Assembly, understands both the spotlight and the shadows.
And then came her tribute.
Simple. Devastating.
“They called you many names — Aluo, Jaramogi’s son, Tinga, Agwambo, Nyundo, Jakom.
But in the end, they called you Baba.”
That wasn’t just a daughter speaking.
It was lineage addressing spirit.
Each name a chapter: Aluo for identity, Tinga for grit, Agwambo for mystery, Nyundo for strength, Jakom for authority.
And Baba — the summation of them all.
In that moment, the baton passed quietly.
Juogi had found its host.
🌍 Women Rising: From Kisumu to Lausanne
Across business, politics, and sport, lionesses are stepping into spaces once dominated by lions.
Kirsty Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, is now the first African and first woman to chair the International Olympic Committee.
Her journey from pool to podium shows that empathy and excellence can coexist.
Harriet Okach, newly elected Chairperson of the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), mirrors that same energy locally.
The boardroom has changed — and so has the conversation.
🏉 SHA × KRU: When Health Became a Brand Asset
At the October 2025 Safari 7s, the Social Health Authority (SHA) stepped in as official health partner for the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU).
For the first time in Kenya’s sporting history, every registered KRU player — from grassroots to the Shujaa — will be covered for surgeries, injuries, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation.
To put that in perspective:
A Kenya Harlequin FC source who choses to remain anonymous says they spend KSh 2–3 million a year on medical insurance for about 60-80 players.
Now scale that across 40,000 registered players, each costing roughly KSh 50,000 to cover — you’re looking at a sponsorship worth close to KSh 2 billion.
The biggest in Kenya rugby’s history.
Now before everyone puts on their judgmental sunglasses and questions “viability,” tuliza boli.
SHA didn’t just buy logo space on jerseys — they bought trust, relevance, and emotional equity in one of Kenya’s most passionate sports.
The new KRU leadership — love them or hate them — just raised the brand value of Kenyan rugby overnight.
Ask any player or fan who the biggest sponsor is, and they’ll say it confidently:
“SHA — worth about two billion.”
From a marketing lens, that’s a masterstroke in brand positioning.
From a sales lens, it’s a case study in stakeholder intimacy. Kesi baadaye ;)
💼 The Sales Lesson: Never Hang on One Hook
Most salespeople depend on one contact.
When that person leaves, the door closes — deal gone, effort wasted.
The survivors know the secret: map the entire buying circle.
Four Types of Buyers:
User Buyer – the one who uses the product (child, house manager).
Financial Buyer – the CFO asking if it’s worth it (mother).
Emotive Buyer – HR or manager who feels it improves lives (that vocal aunty / uncle who has an opinion on everything).
Business Buyer – the CEO balancing legacy, profit, and perception (Bazuu, Mathe, Mokoro).
The SHA × KRU deal worked because it touched all four.
Players felt protected (user), boards saw ROI (financial), fans connected emotionally (emotive), and executives saw vision (business).
That’s not luck — that’s design.
It’s the same playbook Winnie will need.
She can’t just rely on a surname; she’ll have to build her own stakeholder web — people who feel seen, heard, and invested.
🔮 Juogi, Legacy & the Next Chapter
When an elder passes, the Luo say the spirits don’t die — they migrate.
Maybe that’s what this collective grief is: a redistribution of power and spirit.
The juogi of the lion is seeking new ground.
It might settle in Winnie.
It might echo in the women rewriting sport and business.
It might rise in a nation learning to sell ideas with empathy, not ego.
Either way, Juogi will reveal.
It always does.
🧩 Kitendawili
“Ukiona Simba imenyeshwa……….. usifikiri ni paka.”
(If you see the lion drenched in rain, don’t mistake it for a cat.)
You told the President that you are ready to come home, Winnie — karibu nyumbani.
Because in the end: when the lion rests, the lioness roars.
When the legacy bows, the next chapter opens.
RIP Baba — till the next episode.
#SameForestDifferentMonkeys #WinnieOdinga #RailaOdinga #Juogi #KenyaRugby #SHA #SalesFundiKe #LegacyLeadership
Astutely insightful.