I Had Warned Raila Of Possible Fallout In The Odinga Family After His Death, Oburu Says

Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga has disclosed that he cautioned his late younger brother Raila Odinga about potential family disputes that could arise after his death if they failed to resolve pending matters, particularly regarding their estate.

In a candid interview, Dr Oginga revealed that he raised these concerns with the former Prime Minister during a phone conversation just days before Raila’s unexpected death in India on October 15.

The ODM leader said he feared unresolved issues could fracture the unity he and his brother had carefully nurtured over decades.

“I was telling him that there are a few things which are outstanding in the family, including the estate, which we had managed with him,” Dr Oginga recalled.

He urged his brother to settle the matter once and for all by ensuring each family member received what was due to them, leaving no loose ends that could fuel future conflict.

The senator expressed particular concern about the next generation’s ability to maintain the same cohesion he and Raila enjoyed. “Life of a human being is temporary. If anything happens to you or me, or to both, and we all go, these young people, I don’t see them gelling as much as we gel with you,” he told his brother.

The two had planned to meet in Dubai on October 19 to address these family matters, but Raila’s sudden death prevented the meeting from taking place. “It was as if there was a premonition. I was the one raising the issue, and he agreed with me a hundred percent. Before we could do anything, this thing happens and he dies,” Dr Oginga said.

His fears appear to be materialising faster than anticipated.

Barely a month after Raila’s burial at Kang’o ka Jaramogi, cracks within the Odinga family have begun to surface publicly.

The late Raila Odinga during a past function.

The most dramatic moment came during ODM’s 20th anniversary celebrations in Mombasa last weekend, where Raila’s daughter Winnie openly challenged the party’s current direction under her uncle’s leadership.

Winnie criticised ODM’s position in President William Ruto’s broad-based government, a political arrangement her late father had endorsed before his death. She questioned whether those now managing the party possess her father’s capacity to handle such complex political relationships. “Because it’s only one Baba Raila Odinga who would manage it,” she said, demanding a National Delegates Convention to allow members to decide who should steer the party’s relationship with government.

The tension had earlier manifested when Winnie conspicuously skipped the ceremony that installed her brother Raila Junior as the family spokesperson, a symbolic role meant to unify the family’s public voice. Family sources describe her absence as deliberate, signalling deeper disagreements within the family.

At the Mombasa meeting, Winnie alleged that unnamed party officials were plotting to “sell” the outfit founded by her father in 2005, warning that the party’s future should not be decided “in boardrooms and through pillow talk.”

Dr Oginga responded to his niece’s public criticism with measured calm, emphasising his lifelong loyalty to his late brother. “I stood with Raila Odinga for the 80 years he lived with us. I never betrayed Raila. I was older than Raila, but we grew up as twins. We worked together and I respected him politically, but at home in the Jaramogi family, I was his chairman,” he said, before indicating he would handle Winnie’s concerns privately at the family level.

The brewing discord comes at a particularly delicate time for ODM, which is navigating its role in the broad-based government while trying to maintain its identity as an opposition party. Dr Oginga insists he is simply implementing his late brother’s last directive, but some family members and party officials view the arrangement with suspicion.

As Kenya continues to mourn the loss of one of its most influential political figures, the Odinga family finds itself at a crossroads. Whether they can resolve their differences and preserve the unity that Raila and Oburu worked so hard to build remains to be seen. For now, Dr Oginga’s prescient warning to his brother has become a painful reality, playing out in the public eye even as guests continue to stream to Bondo to pay their respects.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​