Ruth, the younger sister of Raila Odinga, has spoken about the strained relationship between her late brother and Kenya’s Gen Z during his final years.
Ruth said that some young people who once wished Raila Odinga dead are now the same ones mourning him.
“You’re the same people, especially you Gen Zs, who are now showing love after he’s gone,” Ruth said.
“How about when he was alive and you were saying akufe? He died knowing that you people preferred him dead.”
“It is only we who are seeing the outpouring now, but how about Baba? He would have loved you people to have more love.”
Ruth said that although some Gen Zs spoke harshly about her brother, many did not understand his legacy or how much he had done for the country.
“For those showing love now, you didn’t know the reality would be this. But the loss is for Kenya. When I laid him down and stopped the machines, I said Kenya has lost. Kenya is lost. I don’t know where it’s going without Raila.”
Raila had a tense relationship with Gen Z since the 2024 anti–Finance Bill protests. They accused him of siding with President Ruto to form the broadbased government. This union saw some of Raila Odinga’s allies get government jobs.
Raila denied benefiting from the protests.
“I am not a beneficiary of the Gen Z protest. That allegation in the media is false. I did not benefit. What happened was that Ruto wanted to involve more people in governance and asked if we could give him some from our party.” he said in December 2024.
Ruth wishes Raila’s body was taken by road from Kisumu to Bondo instead of being flown by helicopter.
She remembered that after their father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, died, the family walked with his body all the way from Nairobi to Kisumu.
Ruth also remembered that Raila once said he wanted to turn their family home into a museum. She said she did not like the idea at first but now understands why it is important.
“I remember when he said he was making our home into a museum and I was the first to protest because I am the last born and did not know where I’d go,” she said.
“But now schools visit there. There’s a lot of heritage, and now it is even more meaningful that Raila is buried there. The Odinga family legacy will live forever in people’s minds.”
By Vivian K.