A Nairobi mother has shared a deeply emotional moment after her young son broke down upon learning about the death of former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga.
Olivia Dayo, the mother, revealed that her son Peniel had just returned home from school when he turned on the television and saw the breaking news announcing Raila’s passing.
“I thought I was done crying, but then my son asked, ‘Mum, who killed RAO?’” Olivia told reporters, referring to Raila by his initials.
Trying to stay composed, she explained that Raila had died of cardiac arrest. But her son refused to believe it, asking how someone as “rich and powerful” as Raila could die.
Olivia said she tried to help her son understand that death spares no one — not even leaders or the wealthy.
“I told him that death makes us all equal, no matter our wealth or status. It’s the one thing that reminds us we are all human,” she added.
However, Peniel became emotional, shouting “Lies!” as tears streamed down his face. He insisted that Raila could not die because, to him, the ODM leader was immortal.
Olivia admitted that calming him down was difficult, especially after he kept asking more questions about Raila’s health and why people were crying on TV.
“At that point, I wished he was still in school so he wouldn’t have seen the burial coverage. Watching him cry broke my heart all over again,” she confessed.
The grieving mother eventually managed to console her son, but she said the moment reminded her just how deeply Raila’s leadership and legacy had touched even the youngest generation.
The Odinga family continues to receive an outpouring of condolences as Kenyans across the country mourn the veteran opposition leader, who was laid to rest at his home in Bondo, Siaya County, beside his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
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