{"id":49067,"date":"2026-01-27T20:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/49067\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T20:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:25:08","slug":"its-difficult-living-in-a-world-without-raila-winnie-odinga-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/49067\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s difficult living in a world without Raila, Winnie Odinga says"},"content":{"rendered":"

East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga<\/p>\n

East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga has said that the
\nOdinga family is still adjusting to life without former ODM party leader Raila
\nOdinga.<\/p>\n

The Legislator, who is also Raila\u2019s lastborn daughter, described the period
\nfollowing his death as emotionally challenging and transformative.<\/p>\n

While reflecting on Raila\u2019s final months, Winnie said the transition had
\ntested the family both personally and politically, adding that the loss had
\ndrawn the family closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing as best as I can. It\u2019s quite difficult living in a world without
\nhim, but I take it day by day.\u00a0Some days I\u2019m on a hill, other days
\nI\u2019m in a valley, but if I make it to a plateau I\u2019m doing all right,\u201d Winnie
\nsaid during an interview at Citizen TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe soldier on. I have a good support system, and my family is close
\ntogether. We are supporting each other. Everyone in the family is settling into
\ntheir new responsibilities. This has brought us together, and we are all trying
\nour best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winnie declined to disclose details of her final conversations with Raila,
\nsaying the exchanges were deeply personal.<\/p>\n

She reflected on her political journey alongside Raila, Winnie noted their
\nlong working relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were deeply personal, and I feel it would be disrespectful of me to
\nshare those conversations. Not every conversation we had was for public
\nconsumption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very many people who may now say that the party leader may have
\nsaid this and that. I feel it is not incumbent on them to bring that to the
\nforefront. I think it is disrespectful to the departed. For the last 15 years,
\nI have worked at his side, no matter the dispensation. We were similar in a lot
\nof ways, but in a lot of ways we were different. We used to challenge each
\nother, we used to test each other and push each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The former Prime Minister died on October 15, 2025, aged 80.<\/p>\n

Raila Odinga died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in India.<\/p>\n

He was laid to rest at his extended family home at Kang\u2019o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County, on October 19.<\/p>\n

Raila played a central role in the country\u2019s political history for more than four decades.<\/p>\n

He served as prime minister between 2008 and 2013 and was a key figure in the push for constitutional reforms that culminated in the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.<\/p>\n

Following his death, the government accorded him a state funeral and posthumously awarded him the country\u2019s highest civilian honour in recognition of his service to the nation.<\/p>\n

Raila was described as a national icon whose legacy remains alive in the country\u2019s democratic institutions and ongoing conversations about justice, equality and national cohesion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga has said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[31],"tags":[18774,28935,28934,28932,80,28933,28931,100,101,8564],"class_list":["post-49067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya","tag-eala-mp","tag-final-conversations-with-raila","tag-former-prime-minister-died-on-october-15","tag-former-prime-minister-remembered-as-transformative-leader","tag-kenya","tag-life-without-raila","tag-railas-final-moments","tag-star-news-kenya","tag-the-star","tag-winnie-odinga"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}