The death of Dr Odhiambo Olel, the personal physician of Kenya’s first vice-president and Moi-era detainee Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, has reignited memories of the horrors faced by former Nyayo House detainees.
Dr Olel was arrested on March 20, 1987 by the Special Branch and detained at Nyayo House for 17 days.
He was forced to plead guilty to being a member of an unlawful organisation – Mwakenya – and jailed for five years.
“I was blindfolded from Kisumu to Nairobi and then taken to Nyayo House, where I was tortured repeatedly. Those torturing me accused me of subversive activities besides being Jaramogi’s physician,” noted Olel in a past media interview.
He was also accused of going to Uganda with Jaramogi and planning to use foreign elements to overthrow President Daniel Moi’s government.
He was jailed for five years, but following an appeal by veteran rights lawyer John Khaminwa, his sentence was reduced to three years after he served two at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
According to court records, Dr Olel was seized by police on April 6, 1987. At the time, he was an employee of the Kisumu municipality.
The state alleged that between 1977 and March 20, 1987, the appellant was a member of “Mwakenya”, an unregistered dissident group.
Mr Bernard Chunga, the prosecutor, detailed his alleged involvement with the clandestine organisation. Dr Olel was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
But he challenged the imprisonment, contending the guilty plea was as a result of torture. By the time the Court of Appeal settled the matter on June 30, 1993, it was too late for Dr Olel.
“We allow the appeal, set aside the order of the superior court striking out the appellant’s appeal to it against conviction, and quash that conviction and set aside the sentence,” ruled justices Evans Gicheru and Richard Kwach.
Dr Olel filed a suit against the Attorney-General and was awarded a total of Sh12,477,675.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga recalls Dr Olel’s bid to see his father alive at the hospital bed on the day Jaramogi died.
In his memoir The Flame of Freedom , Mr Odinga recounts how the medical staff at Agha Khan Hospital in Kisumu conceded defeat after trying to save the life of the doyen of Kenya’s opposition politics.
“Jaduong’ obuodha matin. Jim, Mzee owewa.” (“The old man has just slipped from our grasp. Jim, Mzee is dead”) recounted Dr Olel to the current Siaya Senator James Orengo, who was also present when Jaramogi died on January 20, 1994.
Dr Olel was also present when Jaramogi’s body was airlifted from Kisumu to Nairobi under President Moi’s orders.
“Finally, the ambulance arrived. The doors opened and Olel and Orengo climbed out. Jaramogi’s body lay strapped to a stretcher…I and several others moved forward and we gently lifted the stretcher from the ambulance and carried it into the mortuary, where Olel unwrapped the polythene to reveal Jaramogi’s face,” writes Mr Odinga.
Dr Olel was Jaramogi’s personal doctor for 22 years before the latter’s death in 1994. The 86-year-old was pronounced dead at Kisumu Specialist Hospital on Friday at around 11.30pm.
His son Mr Francis Olel said his father had complained of dizziness and reached out to his daughter at around 9:30pm.
"We mobilised people and he was rushed to Specialists Hospital but unfortunately he did not make it and was pronounced dead at 11.30pm," he said.
Mr Francis Olel also noted that his father had a history of health challenges after he was detained at the Nyayo chambers in Nairobi where he was tortured.
He also narrated how his father struggled with heart disease, lumbar pain and an arthritic left knee caused by detention in prison, adding that he was under medication.
He described his father as a strong, courageous man who always encouraged his family to work hard and build the country. He left behind four children.
Mr Odinga offered his condolences and prayers to the family and recognised Dr Olel’s “service to many in a career that ran over decades”.
Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o noted that Dr Olel was a gallant patriot who suffered torture and detention by the state for his involvement in the second liberation.
"In his sudden death, we have lost an accomplished physician, a brave statesman, and a liberation hero."
Dr Olel’s death has reignited memories of Jaramogi’s last days. He strived to unite the opposition and his send-off sparked controversy when his body was driven home from Nairobi instead of being airlifted as the state had wanted.
Jaramogi’s last moments are also captured somberly in a dirge by the late benga musician and historian Daniel Owino Misiani. The song “Piny Odong’ Kodwa” recounts Jaramogi’s last moments and how the death dealt a blow to Kenya.
Dr Olel joins Jaramogi’s other trusted aides who have died, including Barrack Odinge Odera, his former speech writer and press secretary, who died in 2015.
A significant event in Dr Olel’s long relationship with Jaramogi was when founding President Jomo Kenyatta was heckled in Kisumu on October 25, 1969 during the official opening of Russia Hospital, now Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.
He recounts the events vividly in his book My Journey with Jaramogi, Memoirs of a Close Confidant.
