The Day Raila Odinga Learned His Mother Had Died Two Months Ago While Detained in Kamiti Prison

When Kenyans remember the late Raila Amolo Odinga, they recall a man who spent much of his life in the trenches of struggle a symbol of defiance, endurance, and hope.

But behind the towering political figure was a son who once faced a heartbreak that would scar him for life.

It was 1984. Raila was in detention under the Moi regime, held incommunicado following accusations of involvement in the failed 1982 coup attempt. Confined in solitary cells and cut off from the world, communication with family was forbidden.

Unknown to him, his mother, Mary Ajuma Juma Odinga, had fallen ill and passed away on November 5 that year. Prison authorities kept the information from him for two months. Click to keep reading.