By Anderson Ojwang
From a soft punch to a murkier bare-knuckle exchange, Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga and Oketch Salah, the self-claimed adopted son of the late Raila Amolo Odinga, have taken their spat a notch higher.
Ruth, in an interview with KTN on Wednesday, said she does not know Oketch Salah well and that he should give the family space.
Similarly, Ruth said the recent Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) National Executive Council (NEC) resolved that Salah should stop speaking on behalf of the party because he is not a party member.
“I really do not know him that well. I am one of the people who are surprised that he talks as if he knows me and knows everybody.
I think in my whole life, I have met Salah three times, and he supposedly claims to have been my brother’s friend.
But I don’t want to focus on him. For me, I feel that if he was my brother’s friend or son, as he calls himself—because I don’t know how he is his son—he should have had the intelligence that if my brother talked and confided in him, he should be able to come out and say what my brother told him,” she said.
Ruth asked Oketch Salah to give the family space to grieve and live as a family.
“For me, Oketch Salah, I would like to ask him to give us the space as a family to be a family,” she said.
But Salah responded that he would not force any relationship with Ruth Odinga and that his relationship was with Raila.
“Let me be clear from the outset: if you do not wish to associate with me, that is entirely your choice. I have never forced myself into your life, and I have never sought your attention. My relationship was with your late brother, and that relationship stood on its own. It had nothing to do with any other member of the family,” he wrote.
Ruth questioned why Oketch Salah hurriedly left India, where he was with Raila, when he heard she was coming to be with her brother.
“By the time I got to India, I never saw him. I am the one who was with my brother when he passed away. So whether he left because he was scared of me coming, I will not be able to tell you. I do not know him, and I would not want to be engaged in talking about him. I heard he was there, apparently being a friend to him,” she said.
Salah claimed he was the one who convinced Raila to allow Ruth to travel to India and that he purchased her travel ticket.
“For the record, I am the one who convinced Baba to have you join us in India after Jeff Oyer called him several times saying that you wanted to come.
I am also the one who arranged your business class ticket on Emirates.
The only reason I returned to Kenya earlier was because Baba personally asked me to go back to Kenya to conclude my son’s wedding, which had been postponed several times due to his health,” he wrote.
Ruth said that at the party’s NEC meeting, they discussed Oketch Salah and agreed that he should not speak on party matters.
“At the party’s NEC, we did talk about the fact that Oketch Salah is not supposed to be allowed to speak on behalf of the party because he is not a party member.
I am surprised that I keep seeing him coming out and doing what he does. Those are the things I was referring to.
The broad-based arrangement is for the government and not the party,” she said.
Salah responded: “Whatever I have done for ODM was not driven by personal interest; it was done at Baba’s request. ODM does not belong to you, or to me, or to any one family. If it does, then let that be stated openly, and I will step away without hesitation.”
Recently, Siaya Governor James Orengo described the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as mystic and mysterious to many of them.
Orengo claimed the circumstances under which Raila died left more questions than answers and expressed optimism that one day the truth would come out.
“I want to say without fear of contradiction that the death of Raila Amolo Odinga is still a mystery to a lot of us. Those who bear responsibility for the death of Raila Amolo Odinga are still out there.
They are silent, but I hope one day we will know the circumstances under which Raila Amolo Odinga passed away,” he said.
Recently, Raila’s daughter Winnie Odinga engaged in a bitter exchange with Oketch Salah over Raila’s health and death.
Winnie Odinga, in a Citizen TV interview, said he was a stranger and should either be taken to Mathari or the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters for interrogation.
“I have met Oketch Salah, but I would like to believe nobody really knows him. I also feel sad for him. My father died, and that was a traumatic experience for me.
At least he died with somebody he knew loved him. People need to take care of their loved ones.
When you leave here and take Thika Road, you have two options—you either turn right as if you are going to Mathari or to the DCI—because a flat lie that you were there at the time of my father’s death, when you were not, and talking about things that did not occur is quite dangerous and makes me question a lot of things. What would those intentions be?
He should be rushed to either Mathari or the DCI with immediate effect,” she said.
Oketch recently claimed on his social media platforms that he is Raila’s adopted son and that he was with him at his bedside when he first fell ill and during his final moments.
“I was with Baba Raila Odinga from the time he first fell ill until his final moments on earth. That is a fact. I do not say this for sympathy, relevance, or political mileage; I say it because it is the truth.
I was with Baba throughout his pain. I know what it felt like. There were moments I genuinely thought I was losing him—moments when it was only me and one security guard present, holding Baba, trying to steady him, trying to help him through the pain. This is not a story,” he wrote.