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‘Raila died in my arms’: Winnie says as Odinga children mourn father
Clockwise: Winnie Odinga, Rosemary Odinga and her two daughters, The Odinga family, and Raila Odinga Junior at the State funeral service at teh Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi on October 17, 2025.
Baba died in my arms, Winnie Odinga disclosed as she and her siblings – Rosemary and Raila Junior – paid glowing tributes to their father, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who died on Wednesday in India.
“I was with him in India when he took his last breath. He died in my arms, but he did not die as people have been saying on social media,” said Winnie, who was with her father throughout his treatment in India.
Winnie told the pensive crowd that turned up to pay their last respects to their leader that each day, Mr Odinga showed signs of improvement and was strong.
“Every day he was waking up and walking one round, then two rounds the next day. That morning, he pushed to five rounds. He died strong and with dignity and pride, and you must be proud of that,” she said.
She described her late father as someone who, despite being the national icon many people in the country looked up to, was also a devoted father and a source of strength for his family, including all his grandchildren.
“I don’t know who I’ll miss more — my dad or my superhero. I am the luckiest girl in the world because you were my dad,” she said, adding that her siblings the late Fidel, Rosemary, and Junior shared in that privilege.
Winnie Odinga speaks during the state funeral of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi on October 17, 2025.
At home, Winnie remembered how Mr Odinga turned their house into a vitendawili ground, where he would come up with various trivia and puzzles to test their thinking abilities.
To Rosemary Odinga, her father was an advisor, a friend, and someone who understood her, her children, and her siblings so well. She narrated how she learnt of her father’s demise.
“I remember the day I received the message. I had just finished my breakfast and was seated at the table when my brother Junior called me. He asked where I was, and I told him I was seated at the table. Then he told me to sit down,” she said.
“I asked myself, ‘Now, do I sit on the floor? Is the seat not enough?’ I was so confused. Then Junior told me that our father was no longer with us.”
Rosemary described her father as an evergreen source of wisdom and the best life coach ever present in her life, who always shared advice and wisdom that were not laced as lectures.
“Baba, you taught me to sharpen my own ideas, to think deeply, to question, to stand for what I believe in even when it’s not easy. You showed me that true strength lies not in intransigence but in conviction guided by compassion,” she said in her eulogy.
To Raila Odinga Junior, the reality that he is now the only man left in the family hit him hard, but he promised to take care of his mother and siblings.
He said his father embodied resilience, courage, and unwavering commitment to the ideals of freedom and justice.
“He was my hero, and his legacy lives in me, my siblings, and all those whose lives he touched. I am my father’s son, and that is why I will continue fighting for the values he believed in—justice, fairness, and service to others,” Mr Odinga Jnr said.
He said one thing he will miss is spending time with his father watching his favourite football team – Arsenal – play.
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