Raila died knowing Gen Zs preferred him dead - Ruth Odinga says

Raila Odinga’s younger sister Ruth Odinga has acknowledged the complex relationship between the Gen Zs and the former Prime Minister during his final years.

Speaking to the press at Opoda farm home in Bondo, Ruth noted that while some members of Gen Z had previously spoken harshly about Raila, they are now among those mourning his passing.

She reflected on how her brother's legacy was sometimes misunderstood by the very people it sought to uplift.

"You're the same people, especially you as a Gen Z who's telling me the outpouring of love when he's dead. How about when he was alive and you were saying akufe. He died knowing that you people (Gen Zs) preferred him dead. It is only we who are seeing the outpouring, but how about Baba? He would have loved you people to have more love," she stated.

"For those who said those things when he was still alive, it was really wrong but for those who have shown their love right now, hamkujua the reality would be this but the loss is for Kenya. When I laid him down and stopped the machines I said Kenya has lost. Kenya is lost, I don't know where it's going without Raila."

She also recalled Raila's declaration of turning their family home into a museum, citing how she protested it at first but now acknowledges its vital role in the country's history. 

"I remember when he said he was making our home into a museum and I was the first to protest because I am the last born and I didn't know where I'd go but now schools go there, there's a lot of heritage and now it's more monumental that Raila is buried there, that Odinga families' legacy will live forever in peoples' minds."

Ruth also wished that Raila’s body could have been transported by road rather than airlifted by helicopter from Kisumu to Bondo, recalling how they walked from Nairobi to Kisumu with the body of their father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, following his demise.

Raila and the Gen Zs have shared a complicated relationship since the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests. At the time, the Gen Zs stated that they had taken over the opposition role, urging ‘Baba’ should rest. 

Despite Raila being the symbol of Kenya's struggle for democracy, a section of Gen Zs faulted the opposition leader for siding with the government of the day, citing that he 'did not speak on their behalf' anymore after his people were appointed to government.

Responding to the allegations, Raila stated that he is not a beneficiary of the Gen Z protests.

“I am not a beneficiary of the Gen Z protest. That is a useless allegation made in the media. I have not benefited. What happened was Ruto said he wanted to involve the larger society in governance and asked if we could give him some people from our party,” Raila said in December 2024.