28/03/2026
HISTORY OF ROHO CHURCH
Roho church started in Ruwe , Ugenya Siaya county. The first Roho church was called Ruwe Musanda Holy Ghost Church. It was called Musanda because its founder, Alfred Odongo Mango was killed in Musanda .
Musanda massacre happened in 1934 when Odongo Mango the founder of Roho Movement was burnt alive and some of his followers speared to death.
Two things led to the Musanda massacre, one ,Mango had rebelled against the CMS and began preaching anti-white doctrines which made the colonialist view him as an enemy. W E.Michael Owen The Archdeacon of Kavirondo once called him a deceiver.
Secondly Mango was a Luo 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 one 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.
He was only allowed to return after he signed an agreement acknowledging that Musanda belonged to Abawanga and that he was just a tenant .He also undertook not to bring any of his clansmen to Musanda without permission.
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 th
