- Former prime minister Raila Odinga’s eye problem has plagued him for decades, but much has been said about the cause
- Some of his followers thought that the itchy eyes were caused by the effects of the tear gas he endured during his struggle
- However, according to Raila’s long-time associate and friend, the former prime minister’s eye problem started in 1980
If you are a keen observer, you may have seen how the former prime minister Raila Odinga as he faces an eye problem in public.
Source: Facebook
His eyes were so irritated that he was sometimes seen wiping away tears frequently with a handkerchief or using the back of his hand.
It became so common that some actors would occasionally impersonate him in their plays.
Some people thought that the eye problem was caused by the effects of the tear gas rounds he went through while fighting for democracy and good governance.
However, according to his former ally turned critic of Raila, Ahmed Hashi, the former prime minister’s eye problem began when he was in detention in the 1980s and 1990s.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Wednesday, October 15, Hashi recounted that in one of their meetings, he saw how Raila was straining his eyes and gave him a new handkerchief.
Out of curiosity, he later approached her and asked her why she was constantly wiping tears from her right eye.
It was at this stage that Raila opened up to Hashi that the hatred started from the period when he was imprisoned in the Kamiti Maximum prison.
According to Hashi, the veteran politician revealed that during that period, he was kept in a dark room for so long that his eyesight began to suffer.
“I remember one day when we were at a meeting, I saw Raila keep touching the corner of his eye, so I went to get a clean handkerchief from my car and gave it to him. Later, when I asked him why he was doing that, he said that when he was in prison, he didn’t have enough sunlight, so his eye tubes exploded and he couldn’t control his tears.”
Did Raila Odinga hurt his knee?
The veteran politician also suffered a knee injury during a football match in the city Thika in 1974.
Raila was a soccer lover, and spent many years of his youth playing and watching soccer locally and internationally.
In one of his previous interviews, the ODM boss revealed that he suffered the injury when he was 29 years old, adding that if it was not for prompt treatment, he could have injured his leg more.
Chairman of Gor Mahia FC, Ambrose Rachier revealed that Raila was such a good player that he once played for a second division club in the German Bundesliga.
“He told me that in one of our conversations, and I was shocked. I didn’t know he was such a serious footballer,” said Rachier in his greetings to Raila, a dedicated Arsenal fan.
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