The widow of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Mama Ida, has revealed how difficult it has been for the family to come to terms with her husband’s death.
Speaking at her Opoda Farm home in Bondo, Siaya County, where she hosted hundreds of widows under the Widows Voices Ministry who had come to console the family, Ida described Raila’s passing as unexpected.
According to Ida, the family had regarded Odinga’s illnesses as routine, believing firmly that the ex-ODM leader, who had travelled to India for treatment, would be treated and return home.
She disclosed that her husband had shown no signs of a deteriorating condition in the days leading up to his death, making his demise not only deeply saddening, but also shocking to her family.
“Whatever has happened that brings you here was very unfortunate; nobody expected it. Particularly I didn’t expect it. I didn’t see any sign, I didn’t see any sign that could have alerted me that Raila would probably leave,” she stated.
No word
Ida, whose husband died while undergoing treatment at an Indian hospital while she was back home in Kenya, expressed her sorrow that her husband of over five decades left her without a final word. “He left me without a word,” she regretted.
Ida, who reluctantly acknowledged her new status as a widow, thanked the group of widows who had joined the growing list of delegations streaming into her home to mourn Raila days after his burial. “It surprises me when people start referring to me as Raila’s widow because I didn’t know that at this age I would be baptised with a new name—that I am now a widow of Raila,” she said, adding; “Thank you so much. I’m so happy to see all of you. Each group that’s here is very important; we thank God that you’re here to console us,” she added.
The widows, she said, would be among the support groups she hoped to rely on for emotional support as she navigates the new realities of life without her husband of many years. “I know I have a big, strong group of widows who will be by my side. I’m happy you have this group; now plan to enroll me into this group,” Ida said.
Speaking during the event, the group’s leader, Betty Musindai, called on Kenyans to be supportive and compassionate to widows who may be experiencing difficult times following their husbands’ deaths.
“When a woman is bereaved and has lost her husband, we tell her to be strong for her family, we tell her to be strong for her children, we tell her to be strong for the nation, but we forget about herself. We forget to ask how she feels,” she noted.
Raila met Ida in 1973 while he was a tutorial fellow at the University of Nairobi. Ida, then pursuing a Bachelor of Education degree, struck him as different: a tall, elegant beauty whose confidence and intellect captured his heart instantly.
Their friendship blossomed quickly, and by 1974, they had solemnised their union in church.
In 2023, while celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with his lifelong partner, Mama Ida Betty Odinga, Raila described her as “the bedrock and pillar of our family”. “Being married to you for five decades has brought me great joy,” he said at the Villa Rosa Kempinski, where the occasion also marked Ida’s 73rd birthday.
