- Dennis Onyango revealed that Raila Odinga seemed to feel his time was near, although he did not show any signs of illness
- The February 2024 visit to Germany, where Raila visited his former schools, appeared to be the beginning of quiet preparations.
- In their private conversation, Raila began to outline his legacy plans, including the institutions he hoped would outlive him.
- A few weeks before his death, he talked about resting places, unfinished projects, and the foundation he intended to start after returning from India.
Raila Odinga when he sat down to eat with his longtime assistant Dennis Onyango, nothing seemed right.
Source: Youtube
The menu was familiar; local chicken, vegetables, beef, and kamongo, a traditional mud fish that he always loved.
But, looking back now, Onyango has revealed that the conversation and the months leading up to his death showed something deeper.
Did Raila feel his time on earth was coming to an end?
According to Onyango, the veteran opposition leader and former prime minister had already sensed that his time was approaching.
During the interview, he explained that it was not because of illness, but because of what Onyango describes as “the wisdom that comes with age and being an African, he knew his time was up now.”
“Raila was 80 years old and people talk as if he was not old. All these 80 in villages across Kenya are standing still. They are not moving. They cannot ride cars, they cannot ride planes. Raila was strong and powerful,” he narrated.
Onyango pointed to a trip they made together to Germany in February 2024 as when he first saw the change.
He explained that the former prime minister took him to visit the school and university he had attended decades ago.
“From high school to Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, he wanted to make sure everything about his history was clearly recorded. He would insist that I write notes. It felt like he was getting married,” Onyango said.
At the university, they met professors who confirmed Raila’s academic record in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
One professor even showed them a board that had previously listed the top scholars in the institute, where Raila’s name was among them.
Onyango said his biggest challenge was to get him to rest as doctors would advise him to rest for two or three weeks, but Raila would only stay at home for a few days before returning to political and social activities.
“He spends a day to a second saying he says I’m fine now. Then he enters the street. Politicians want him everywhere; come let me do this, I’m preparing this funeral. So I’m one of the people who pushed him to leave the country to rest,” Onyango revealed.
What were Raila’s wishes regarding his legacy?
But under the irresistible plan, Onyango said he discovered something else; during a private conversation, Raila started discussing what should happen after his death.
In July and August 2024, Raila discussed plans to support Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University with a new department focused on the mining and mining sector.
When Onyango proposed to establish the Raila Odinga School of Government, similar to Harvard’s Kennedy School, Raila’s response shocked him.
“He basically told me that it was close and that it was in September a few weeks before, in September, he said to me ‘you know those things you need to do for death after death when I’m gone you can deal with those things’,” Onyango said.
The former prime minister also discussed his final resting place and his family’s legacy institutions.
Source: Facebook
He made it clear that he did not want a separate museum built for him, saying that the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Museum already represented the family legacy.
“He told me ‘yes we need Raila Odinga’s foundation. I need to sit down with Oburu and call Anyang’ Nyong’o. We need to sit together because Anyang’ knows this. We need to start that foundation. He told me that someone started something in Kisumu called Raila Odinga’s Foundation. I don’t agree with that. We need to do something new so those are the types of things he should do when he comes back from India.” Onyango narrated.
Did Raila have a statement?
Elsewhere, an MP from ODM revealed that their former leader told members three different times in a meeting that he might collapse and die.
The MP described this statement as strange at the time, but now they believe it may have been a statement.
Raila was also reported to have joked that he would die at the age of 80, in line with the family structure mentioned in the discussion.
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