Those who hated and betrayed Raila now mourning the loudest

Raila Amolo Odinga has rested, and Kenya stands at the edge of both history and hypocrisy. The air is thick with praise, the cameras are rolling, and the same hands that once threw stones now carry wreaths of flowers. The same tongues that spat venom now whisper sanctified tributes. And yet, beneath the soft speeches and the polished tears, a question burns in the hearts of millions: Who will tell the truth? Who will speak for Baba now?

I remember Julius Malema’s thunderous eulogy at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018. Standing before a trembling nation, Malema refused to sanitise history. He refused to let the oppressors of yesterday rewrite their crimes in the language of mourning. He looked up and asked for a signal from the departed mother of the revolution so he would know how to deal with those who had betrayed her in life and now pretended to honour her in death.