Raila, beer and the German connection

While the official mission focused on signing the Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement to open avenues for Kenyan skilled workers and students in Germany, Odinga's presence was to lobby the Germans.

He was there as Kenya’s candidate for the African Union Commission chairperson, using the visit to reinforce diplomatic ties and lobby support for his continental leadership bid.

Also Read: Military gun salute and fly-past for Raila Odinga, a man who ruled without occupying seat of power

Alongside President Ruto were senior officials, including Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, who were to sign an agreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

At a diaspora engagement event, Odinga took the audience by surprise when he began narrating, then singing a popular German folk tune: “Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii (There is no beer in Hawaii),” a humble 1960s Schlager song.

With characteristic humour, he told the crowd: “The Germans went to Hawaii. Very far and found the place too hot. They love beer, but there was no beer. So they said, ‘We will never go back.’”

Then, in fluent German, he sang the first verses. The hall erupted, some laughing, others singing along.

The song, written by Paul Kuhn, narrates the story of a man refusing to honeymoon in Hawaii because there is no beer there, preferring instead the beer-famous towns of Germany and the Czech Republic.

Odinga had shared versions of this story before, often laughing about how Germans treat beer almost like water, especially during Oktoberfest.

Ironically, Odinga died in October, the month that almost the whole world, including Kenya, celebrates Oktoberfest.

His connection to Germany, however, was not only in personal anecdotes; it was woven into the story of his family and their shared legacy of education and diplomacy. 

Also Read: Raila hosts exiting German diplomat

Speaking at her Opoda home, Mama Ida Odinga offered a deeper glimpse into that bond.

"My husband used to sing this song for me so many times. He asked why go searching for beer in Hawaii when Germany has so much? He told me that in Germany, drinking beer is like drinking water," she said.

She remembered one particular October trip to Germany when, just like Kenyan water bowsers filling tanks in towns, Germany’s city squares were filled with trucks dispensing beer from giant barrels with people lining up to fill mugs as large as pitchers.

For many, it was a reminder of Odinga's human side, global yet grounded, serious yet always ready to break the tension with song or humour.

“When I was a teacher at Kenya High School, which taught German, I developed the Kenya-German Student Exchange Programme. Every August, I would take my students to Germany for a month and every December, German students come to Kenya. It was a fantastic cultural exchange," she recalled.

The programme lasted more than 22 years and shaped generations of students, many of whom went on to study in Europe or pursue international careers. 

Months after that Berlin trip, a moving and unexpected tribute unfolded at Opoda Farm and Kang’o Ka Jaramogi in Bondo. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Mayor of Gersthofen in Germany, Michael Wörle, led a team of 55 youth Orchestra to Bondo. The youth orchestra team was aged between 14 to 28 years old.

First, they visited Odinga's grave at Kang'o Ka Jaramogi, then to Opoda Farm, where they performed an orchestra tribute for his family and mourners.

The visit and performance were described as a touching gesture, highlighting the strong ties between the people of Gersthofen, Germany, and Kenya, a connection that began during Odinga's time as a student in the German city of Magdeburg.

Mayor Michael Wörle, who had met the ex-premier during the Berlin visit. He said that he was moved by how Odinga sang the German song fluently.

“I met Raila Odinga in Berlin last year. He struck me as a man of deep humour and unwavering principles. Let us honour his legacy not only in words, but in action by continuing his work of building bridges and believing in a united, self-determined Africa," he said.

"In memory of this special evening, for a special person, we would like to sing a song that he sang in front of hundreds of Kenyans in Berlin in 2024, and I was also a member of the group," he added.

Also Read: Raila Odinga's long political journey and his clash with three presidents

And in his honour, they lifted their instruments and performed that same cheerful song he sang while he was in Berlin: “Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii.” 

Es gibt kein Bier auf Hawaii, es gibt kein Bier

D'rum fahr' ich nicht nach Hawaii, d'rum bleib ich hier.

Es ist so heiß auf Hawaii, kein kühler Fleck

Und nur vom Hulahula geht der Durst nicht weg.

Translation

There is no beer in Hawaii, there is no beer

That's why I'm not going to Hawaii, that's why I'm staying here.

It's so hot in Hawaii, no cool spot

And thirst doesn't disappear by hula-hula alone.

Among the many other songs the German Youth performed at Opoda Farm are the famous Malaika by Miriam Makeba, Heal the World by Michael Jackson, the Kenyan National Anthem and many German classical pieces.

A section of the musicians was dressed in traditional attire, namely Dirndl and blouse (for the women), while the men had shirt, Lederhosen and a pair of shorts. 

The majority of the students were dressed in a Navy Blue pair of trousers, blazers and red half-coats and white shirts.

They played all the instruments for an orchestra, ranging from drum set, flutes, saxophone, tambourine, piano, trombones, tuba, among others. 

Their performance lasted about 30 minutes, finishing with both the Kenyan and German National anthems.

Among Mama Ida’s treasured keepsakes from those years her husband spent in Germany was a traditional German beer mug, symbolic, humourous, and sentimental all at once.

“It was like the big mugs people used during festivals. When Raila saw it, he laughed and said it reminded him of Germany, where beer flows like water,” she said.

And when the choir visited this week, among the gifts presented to her was a mug of beer, with a light-hearted reminder that it should be used strictly for drinking beer.

Mama Ida shared that her husband's relationship with Germany was not simply diplomatic; it was part of his life story. 

He first travelled to East Germany in 1962 to study mechanical engineering, beginning his studies at the Herder Institution in Leipzig to master the German language. 

In 1965, he earned a scholarship to the Technische Hochschule Magdeburg, where he completed his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1970.

During the Cold War, long before the Berlin Wall fell, he crossed between East and West Berlin through the infamous Checkpoint Charlie. 

Few African students enjoyed such privileges at the time. It shaped in him a worldview rooted in independence, justice, and global understanding.

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