He Died Knowing You Had Turned Against Him" — Ruth Odinga Mourns Raila in Emotional Tribute

By Phanice Rono 

  Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has said that her brother, the late Raila Amolo Odinga, passed away fully aware that many young people had turned against him, despite his lifelong struggle for democracy in Kenya.

Speaking during a memorial gathering at the family’s Opoda Farm in Bondo, Ruth described Raila’s death as a painful moment for both their family and the nation. She expressed heartbreak over what she saw as hypocrisy from some quarters now mourning him.

“You’re the same people — especially you, Gen Z — who are now talking about the outpouring of love. But where was that love when he was alive, and you were saying *‘akufe’*?” she asked emotionally.

“He died knowing that many of you preferred him dead. It’s only us, the family, who are seeing this love now. But what about Baba? He would have loved to see this while he was still alive.”

Ruth shared tender memories of Raila’s final moments, describing the deep grief that overwhelmed her when he took his last breath.

“When I laid him down and turned off the machines, I said, ‘Kenya has lost. Kenya is lost. I don’t know where it's going without Raila.’”

She also recalled a conversation they had years earlier, when Raila expressed his desire to turn their family home into a museum — a vision she had once resisted, but now fully embraces.

“I remember when he said he was turning our home into a museum. I was the last born — I didn’t want that. But now, with Raila buried there, it has become more monumental. The Odinga family’s legacy will live forever in the hearts and minds of Kenyans.”

Her heartfelt tribute captured both the pain of personal loss and the magnitude of a national farewell — a powerful reminder to honour and appreciate leaders while they are still alive, not only after they are gone.