Few Kenyans had ever heard the name Oketch Salah — until former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s sunset days.
Now, the once-invisible figure commands a lifestyle of choppers, private meetings with presidents, and an influence that has baffled even seasoned insiders.
His rise was silent, almost ghostly, but as Odinga’s long political journey neared its end, Salah stepped out of the shadows and into national attention — a man whose newfound luxury and access to power has sparked intense curiosity.
The name Oketch Salah carried little significance beyond Migori town, where he grew up as the son of a wealthy businessman.
Thrust into the limelight
Outside the lakeside town, he was virtually unknown — a quiet presence without political following, business empire, or public stature.
But as Raila Odinga’s long political journey entered its dusk, a new, intriguing figure quietly crossed into his inner circle, thrust into the public limelight.
And before anyone could fully understand who he was or how he got there, Mr Salah had stepped into a world of choppers, presidential meetings, foreign trips and proximity to power that even seasoned political insiders could only marvel at.
In the months following Raila’s death , he has become one of the most widely discussed but least understood personalities in Kenya’s political theatre — a man whose rise has been as dramatic as it has been mystifying.
It was during these quiet, delicate months that Salah, who had long cultivated a private friendship with Odinga, became a constant presence at the former Prime Minister’s side.
But Salah’s emergence into national attention came not from whispered accounts of hospital corridors — it came from his lifestyle, suddenly on display.
And every post raised the same question: Who is this man, and where did he come from?
On December 6, a chopper descended in Bondo for the funeral of Beryl Achieng’ Odinga, Raila’s sister.
When the doors opened, Salah stepped out, dressed immaculately, greeting mourners with the ease of a man long accustomed to VIP protocol.
He later posted: “From Kang’o Ka Jaramogi; a glimpse of a solemn yet meaningful day… May her journey home be peaceful.”
For many in Bondo, it was one of the rare occasions they saw him after Raila’s burial, arriving not quietly, but by air, in the unmistakable style of those who now walk in power.
His social media trail, which only came alive in late September 2025, shows regular travel and high-profile meetings.
This new mobility has become part of the Salah mystique — the visual proof of a life transformed by proximity to Kenya’s most powerful families.
If the choppers raised eyebrows, the presidential meetings sent the political class into overdrive.
Just on Tuesday, December 9, Mr Salah posted photos standing beside Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, accompanied by his daughter.
“We held fruitful discussions on strategic business opportunities in Mining, Energy and Agriculture,” he wrote. “Grateful for the opportunity to explore partnerships that support Zimbabwe’s growth.”
A private Kenyan citizen meeting a foreign president on business and development matters is not ordinary.
It signaled stature, influence and networks that went far beyond Migori or the Odinga family.
Just a week earlier, on December 2, Salah had been hosted at State House by President William Ruto, during celebrations of the election of the broad-based legislators, where he accompanied ODM leader Dr Oburu Oginga, at a meeting no other single ODM official attended.
The symbolism was unmistakable: Salah is now positioned at the intersection of the Ruto–Odinga political pact, a rare and powerful space in post-Raila Kenyan politics.
Salah’s rising profile has not been without controversy, confusion.
No one expressed this more starkly than Ruth Odinga, Raila’s sister: “I don’t know him. When I went to India to see Raila, he returned to Kenya. I don’t know why. Now he is all over with Dr Oburu Oginga. I have been asked who he is and I can’t explain too. You need to find out who he is.”
Her remarks echoed a wider sentiment — that the man now photographed with presidents, cabinet secretaries and Odinga patriarchs remains an enigma even to key members of the Odinga family.
Long before choppers and state visits, Salah grew up in Migori town where his father, Abdi Salah, was a well-known businessman.
Oketch Salah arrives in Bondo in a chopper for the funeral of Beryl Achieng’ Odinga, Raila’s sister, on December 6, 2025.
Photo credit: X/ @Oketch_Salah
Multiple interviews with those who know his father, Abdi, say he owned Salah Bakery, one of the town’s oldest enterprises, and is credited with constructing Migori’s first storey building in the 1970s — a landmark that cemented the family’s status as early local influencers.
“We were together with Oketch Salah at Migori Boys, but he later left, I can’t tell where he completed his secondary education. This was in the 90s,” said his former schoolmate.
Much of Salah’s recent visibility began around the time of his son Abdinoor’s wedding on October 25, 2025, ten days after Raila’s passing.
The ceremony, held at Serena Hotel, was a quiet but powerful affair, attended by high-profile leaders including Dr Oginga and Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
Chairman of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Association of Kenya Oketch Sala on November 2, 2025.
Photo credit: Oscar Kakai | Nation Media Group
It was at this event that Dr Oginga lifted the veil on the depth of Salah’s relationship with Raila.
“Oketch Salah was a good friend and a son of Raila… He was taking care of Raila until the day he breathed his last. Now that Raila is gone, I have inherited him as my son.”
“Raila has left us in a broad-based government arrangement. We are working with President Ruto. We have a 10-point agenda. We shall ensure they are implemented.”
The remarks did more than affirm Salah’s importance — they placed him squarely inside the architecture of Kenya’s emerging power alliance.
On October 31, another significant moment unfolded.
Salah was among a team of doctors from Kerala, specialists involved in Raila’s medical care, to the Odinga home in Bondo:
“A gesture of friendship and solidarity… a reminder of his enduring legacy and the bonds he built across borders.”
It was an extraordinary move for a private citizen — one that positioned Salah as a custodian of Raila’s medical history, friendships and international connections.
Intriguingly, Salah’s social media accounts — on X and Facebook — were opened only in late September 2025, just weeks before Raila’s death.
Since then, they have grown into a digital diary of chopper arrivals, formal meetings, high-profile photos and business trips.
The imagery is polished, curated, and deeply intentional — designed to project stature, access, and legitimacy.
For a man who lived in obscurity for over 40 years, the transformation is dramatic.
Salah is said to be expanding the family’s investment portfolio into gold mining in Nyatike, a region known for artisanal miners, cross-border traders and speculative investors.
Gold mining is a sector that thrives on political networks, access to land, foreign buyers and government goodwill — all of which Salah appears to be cultivating with unprecedented speed.
He remains celebrated by some, questioned by others, misunderstood by many, and firmly positioned within Kenya’s new political realignments.
To his critics, he is a man who arrived too late and too dramatically in Raila’s life to be fully trusted.
To his supporters, he is a loyal friend who stood by Raila when few could, earning a place in the Odinga family through service, sacrifice and compassion.
To Dr Oginga, he is ‘our son,’ — now part of the family’s future, and to Kenya, he remains the man who came from nowhere — and landed at the very centre of power
Neither government spokesperson Isaack Mwaura nor State House’s Hussein Mohamed was willing to comment on who Mr Salah is, and whether he holds any government position.
Mr Salah too, did not respond to questions from Nation, regarding his recent visits to State Houses in Nairobi and Harare, Zimbabwe.
