Raila's siblings describe him as a tough boy who would stand up against Jaramogi, teachers

Odinga's elder brother Oburu Ng'ong'a Oginga said that he was always expressive, principled and did not shy away from standing up against his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya's first Vice President.

Speaking at the funeral service at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) in Bondo on Sunday, he said that his boldness once earned him a beating from his strict father for questioning why they had to pick cotton early in the morning.

"My father used to come home every weekend (to Nyamira from Kisumu), and he expected us to be picking cotton because this place used to be a cotton-growing area. Because my father was strict, we had to go and pick cotton but Raila told him 'You know it is hard to pick cotton, why don't you pick it as well?' and he was disciplined," he said.

Odinga added that the late Odinga could not bow to redundant laws in primary school.

He said that during their early days in Nyamira, studying in Maranda school, Odinga would remain defiant to a rule that required students to salute teachers after being caned.

This was echoed by Odinga's younger sister Dr. Wenwa Akinyi Odinga, who termed Odinga a "strong-headed" man since childhood and always stood up to teachers in school.

"There was a rule that if you were caned by the teacher, you would salute and say 'thank you, teacher' which he refused to do. He would get up and start walking, and then he would be caned again until the teacher gave up," she noted.

Later in life, when Odinga was the Deputy Director at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) in the late 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Akinyi said that he was strict and always ensured that integrity and professionalism was upheld.

"He was disciplined. If you were working under him while he was the director of KEBS, you could not be late, and he even introduced an attendance register," she said.

Odinga, 80, passed away after collapsing in the Indian city of Kochi on October 15, where he had been under treatment for an undisclosed illness.

The late political premier will be accorded a state funeral with all attendant honours and will be buried next to his father's grave in Bondo.