Former Alego Usonga Member of Parliament Otieno Mak’Onyango, a veteran journalist who was detained without trial after the failed 1982 coup attempt, has died.
He passed away on the night of Sunday, October 25, 2026, while receiving treatment at Nairobi Hospital, where he had been admitted after suffering a stroke earlier this month.
His death was announced by the current Alego Usonga MP, Samuel Atandi.
“We have this evening lost Hon. Otieno Makonyango, the fourth Member of Parliament for Alego Usonga Constituency, who served from 1992 to 1997, while undergoing treatment at a Nairobi hospital,” Atandi said.
Mak’Onyango suffered a stroke on October 3, 2026, and was first admitted to the High Dependency Unit of a hospital in Ngong town before being transferred to Nairobi Hospital. In recent years, he had faced ill health and financial difficulties, prompting well-wishers to launch a fundraising appeal to help pay his hospital bills.
Before entering politics, Mak’Onyango built a career as a journalist at The East African Standard, now The Standard. In August 1982, following the failed coup attempt against the government of President Daniel arap Moi, he was arrested and accused of taking part in the plot.
He spent about four years in detention without trial, alongside other political detainees, including the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. He later told the court that he had been tortured while in custody.
He is remembered as one of the figures in Kenya’s second liberation struggle, the campaign that led to the return of multiparty democracy.
When multiparty politics returned in 1992, Mak’Onyango was elected MP for Alego Usonga in Siaya County on a Ford Kenya ticket, becoming the constituency’s fourth MP. He unseated Peter Oloo-Aringo, who had held the seat since 1974 but regained it in the 1997 election.
In 2003, Mak’Onyango sued the government over his arrest, detention and prosecution. In June 2012, the High Court, presided over by then-Judge Kalpana Rawal, ruled that his constitutional rights had been violated and awarded him Sh20 million in compensation. In a 2014 interview, however, he said the money had not yet been paid and spoke of struggling to meet his basic needs and pay for medication. He later lived in Kibiko, Kajiado County.
Atandi paid tribute to the former legislator’s place in the constituency’s history.
“Alego Usonga has lost a former leader whose name will remain part of the constituency’s political history,” he said. “May God comfort his family, friends, and the people of Alego Usonga during this difficult time.”
Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.
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