Kenyan Police begin tracing Fidel Odinga's last moments

Late Fidel Odinga (Left) with a friend

NAIROBI, KENYA: Kenya’s top crime detectives trooped to the home of Fidel Odinga moments after he was found dead Sunday morning.

Initial reports show that he had been taking alcohol in the company of  friends

As the mystery surrounding his death spread like wild fire on social media and as breaking news, politicians too arrived in droves to condole with family of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was his father.

Police reports detailed how his Ethiopian wife Lwam Gatachaw Bekele  was at home when he returned  to the residence around 2am along Miotoni Road in Karen near the National Defence College.

He was driven to the house in taxi.

His house help reportedly opened the door and he accessed the residence through the kitchen door.

He had been spotted in the company of friends at popular high end hotel in Westlands.

Earlier on Saturday, Fidel had gone to wish his  father Raila New Year tidings in the day because they had not met since the New Year. He visited his dad’s home and shared moments with him before going out with friends whose identities are yet to be known.

Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro led a team of top detectives to the home and were investigating the last moments of the businessman.

“We want to trace the last steps of Fidel and establish where he ate and took any drink yesterday to establish the cause of his death,” Muhoro told the Standard Digital at the scene of the death.

“We urge the public to stay calm as we investigate this matter and establish the truth of the cause of his death,” Muhoro said.

By 11.40am, the body still lay at his home in the second bedroom where he slept. The family was still waiting for a pathologist to arrive and carry out preliminary tests before it is removed to a mortuary. Non formal statement had been issued by the family by the time of filing this report.

He had gone to sleep in a second bedroom reportedly not to disturb the his wife with young child.

Top politicians and prominent family friends arrived at his Karen home in a somber mood. Among those who arrived on Sunday morning was Cord co- principal Kalonzo Musyoka, Siaya Senator James Orengo, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, his Homabay counterpart Cyprian Awiti, Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli, MPs among them Simba Arati, John Mbadi, Omondi Anyanga, Peter Kaluma, Shakeel Shabbir and a host of youthful friends of Fidel.

Raila Odinga the father and his mother Ida Odinga both cut crestfallen figures as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy which appeared to have punctured the political underbelly of the prominent political family.

CID boss Muhoro says they want to retrace his last movements  as they seek answers to the cause of his death.Fidel has been closely associated with the father’s political activities and was once touted as a possible candidate for the Kibra Constituency seat which his dad occupied for several years  after leaving detention.

Fidel was born in 1973 and is the first born in a family of four including Rosemary (1977) Raila Junior (1979) and lastborn named after veteran South African politician Winnie Mandela.

Fidel was married to Ethiopian Lwam Gatachew Bekele in August 2012

He was a complete opposite of his younger  brother Raila Junior  who has been described by aides as greatly detached from his father’s political life and  has been concentrating on his personal advancement.

Rosemary, Raila’s eldest daughter has equally been active in their father’s public life.

Fidel was named after leftist politician Fidel Castro of Cuba, perhaps a show of his father’s defiance political history and the grandfather Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s  preference for socialist policies from the East during the Cold war.