Raila Odinga’s family is his rock and they are a political family through good times and bad.
Right from the 80s and early 90s, Raila’s family has had to pay the price for his anti-establishment decisions, construed by D
During a women's political meeting in Nairobi on November 18, the ODM leader recounted how his wife Ida lost her job as a teacher at Kenya High School. And the family was evicted from staff quarters while he suffered torture in detention at Nyay House.
President Daniel Moi's government retired her 'in the public interest'.
Raila told the gathering his wife was his pillar during his detention and without her he would not have survived.
His daughters Winnie and Rosemary as well as Ida were in attendance.
“You will not be able to stand if you don’t have someone strong beside you,” he said, praising Ida for her sacrifice to keep the family together during his troubles.
“Ida is a very strong person. She has gone through hell herself. For me, they can say I was a troublemaker.”
He revealed that Ida was thrown out of the staff quarters together with their children for secretly keeping in touch with Raila while he was in detention.
He writes in his 2013 memoire, The Flame of Freedom, that after Ida and the children were tossed out, she opened court battles with the state to get Raila released.
She filed a habeas corpus application, seeking an order to compel the Moi administration to produce her husband in court, dead or a live.
"There is nothing you can do in these terrible circumstances except to endure, hour after long hour, day after long day, night after never-ending night.
"Bruised and battered and aching all over, you sit, you stand, dressed only in your underwear, always soaking and always freezing cold. It was tortured such as I never could have imagined," the autobiography reads.
"I am very indebted to Ida, and so grateful for her prompt action, for it curtailed my stay in Nyayo House dungeon, a veritable hell on earth," Raila writes.
All three times he was arrested and detained, the former prime minister told the women’s meeting, Ida took care of the family.
“I want to tell you Ida has been a strong pillar, without her, I would not have made it," he said.
But underlying all actions, the family had a single goal: to support Raila's ambition to become President of the Republic of Kenya.
Even the women's meeting at Catholic as conceived and put together by his daughter Winnie.
She marvelled at the success of the meeting titled 'Azimio la Akina Mama' and thanked her parents for believing in her “crazy idea".
“Last week I had a crazy idea that I was told I couldn’t pull off. Yesterday, it happened. Life is funny, but the blessings of your parents are immeasurable. Honour them always,” she said on social media, posting pictures of the event.
In 1991, Ida founded the lobby group to tap women's voices in the support of her husband's struggle. She set up the League of Kenyan Women Voters to promote opportunities for women in politics, broaden their participation and make their voices count.
Informally, though, especially in politically friendly zones like Nyanza, the lobby was repurposed as a pressure group, trumpeting Raila's ideals and mobilising voters.
Ida is also a force to be reckoned with in ODM politics. Observers claim you cannot get far if you are not in her good books.
She recently made headlines when she suggested that candidates in ODM strongholds negotiate and build consensus among themselves on who should get the party tickets. She argued this would avoid the acrimonious nominations route through primaries and delegates' decision-making meetings.
Supporting Raila is not a burden, it's a joy. His children enjoy accompanying him to political meetings and rallies.
His son Fidel Odinga (now deceased) was a fixture at virtualy all Raila's public appearances, including rallies and football matches. Fide could easily be spotted in Gor Mahia matches. He wore the 'Jaramogi cap' and sat behind his father
It was even rumoured Fidel had political ambitions and planned to run for the Kibra parliamentary seat in 2013. Fidel died suddenly in 2015.
Then Rosemary was also rumoured to be interested in the Kibra seat in 2017, before falling ill and suffering impaired vision.
His youngest, 31-year-old Winnie Odinga, is ineviably at Raila's public appearances.
TAKING AFTER FATHER
Winnie told the entertainment press four years ago that she likes her father so much so that she accompanies him everywhere. It's her avocation and her job.
“I work for my dad. I have worked for him for as long as I can remember. I’m his bodyguard, his briefcase carrier, travel companion or even driver if need be,” she said.
When asked if that was the natural path for all rich politicians' children, she quipped that just like Asians, she wouldn’t be ashamed to take after her father.
“Indians have shops that they can trace back to the 1900s now run by their grandchildren and great grandchildren. You have to support your own.”
“I can’t just sit back and leave the campaign to my father. I don’t think anyone would abandon their parents. It’s a job like any other,” she said. That interview was done at the height of the 2017 presidential campaigns.
In the run up to the 2022 polls, history seems to be repeating itself as Winnie accompanies her father to all political events.
Winnie savours her pedigree without apology, asserting, "People should accept who they are."
“When I was born, in 1990, our family was the most hated in Kenya. My dad was in and out of detention. I didn’t get to pick the schools I went to, I didn’t get to choose which family to be born into.=
“I sit in meetings where I’m the only female and everyone is above 40 years of age. You can see through their looks that they disapprove of my look and my accent but you can’t impress everyone.”
Away from his nuclear family, Raila's elder sibling, Oburu Oding, has also been a pillar in his power quest even though he is perceived to be benefiting from his younger brother's clout
-Edited by SKanyara
