Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s son Raila Junior has recalled meeting his ‘stranger’ dad for the first time when he was aged 11 years.
Raila was arrested and detained without trial after the failed 1982 attempted coup; at the time, Raila Junior was a toddler.
Raila Junior said he was literally born into the struggle as a child of the fight for democracy and raised in a home shaped by sacrifice, having not laid his eyes on his father during his formative years.
He saw his late dad as an 11-year-old at the Kenya High school for the first time, where his mother Ida Odinga was then a teacher when the opposition chief was released from jail.
“I remember coming home from school and seeing the crowd at Kenya High where we then lived. When I got into the house, I saw a man with a beard who resembled the one in one of the photographs on the wall.”
“He was holding my brother and sister. He was a stranger to me, yet he was a bit familiar. To be honest, by this point in my life, I had reconciled with the fact that I will never get to meet my father. That day I learned that Baba was away, not by choice, but he was fighting for Kenya and my entire family.”
Junior who was speaking on Saturday night at the Whitesands Hotel, in Mombasa county during the ODM Founders dinner graced by President William Ruto, urged his late father’s supporters to keep the spirit of his dream alive.
“ODM was his vehicle for advancing that hope. He taught us that freedom is earned, unity is built, and a dream of a better Kenya must always be kept alive.”
Junior took the opportunity to assure the ODM fraternity that the ‘Orange’ flame was still burning and that Raila’s family will play its role in achieving his dreams of a better Kenya.
“As we look forward to the next 20 years, let us recommit ourselves to the values that brought us here: democracy, equity, development and equity for all. Let’s empower youth, protect our constitution and work together across all parties and generations to develop opportunities for every Kenyan.”
Junior said that his family led by Ida was grateful to the ODD family and the country at large for the overwhelming support that they have shown to them during this difficult moment as they continue marking the 40 days of mourning of Raila who departed on the 15th of October 2025 aged 80.
