Kenya Insights

Tag: Oketch Salah

  • I Personally Paid For Your Ticket To Visit Raila in India, Oketch Salah Silences Ruth Odinga After Claiming She Barely Knew Him

    I Personally Paid For Your Ticket To Visit Raila in India, Oketch Salah Silences Ruth Odinga After Claiming She Barely Knew Him

    A simmering feud inside the Orange Democratic Movement exploded into a full-blown public war on Thursday after businessman Oketch Salah issued a stunning point-by-point demolition of Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, revealing for the first time that he was personally responsible for funding and arranging her business class flight to India to visit her ailing brother, the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

    The bombshell disclosure came just hours after Ruth had sat before cameras on a leading local television station and declared, with stunning casualness, that she barely knew the self-styled adopted son of Baba — claiming she had only met him about three times in her entire life.

    Salah was having none of it.

    In a two-page signed statement dripping with controlled fury but measured in tone, the Migori businessman tore into Ruth’s claims as fabrications, insisting that not only did she know him, but that she had reached out to him personally on multiple occasions, and that every single meeting between them had been at her own initiative.

    “It is unfortunate that you chose to go before a major media house and make statements that are not accurate,” Salah declared, going straight for the jugular before laying out a damning narrative that threatened to upend Ruth’s carefully crafted version of events.

    The central charge was explosive.

    According to Salah, when Raila was receiving treatment in India at a hospital in Kerala, it was none other than Salah himself who lobbied for Ruth to be allowed to join them after her aide Jeff Oyier reportedly made repeated calls to Raila saying she desperately wanted to travel.

    Not only did Salah claim he convinced a reluctant Raila to extend the invitation, he says he personally organised and paid for a business class ticket on Emirates Airlines for the legislator.

    “For the record, I am the one who convinced Baba to have you join us in India, after Jeff Oyier called him several times saying that you wanted to come. I am also the one who arranged your business class ticket on Emirates,” Salah stated, the words reading as nothing short of a public humiliation for the Kisumu lawmaker.

    The revelation fundamentally contradicts Ruth’s portrayal of Salah as a peripheral figure she barely recognised, and places her firmly within a web of interactions that she had sought to deny before millions of television viewers.

    Salah also moved to pre-empt any suggestion that he had abandoned Raila in his final hours, explaining that the only reason he returned to Kenya before Raila’s death was because Raila himself had personally asked him to go back to oversee the conclusion of his son’s wedding, which had been postponed multiple times due to the leader’s deteriorating health. He added that he had been scheduled to meet Raila again in Dubai after the former PM’s departure from Kerala, a reunion that never came.

    The blistering statement also ventured into deeply contested political territory. Ruth, speaking in her Wednesday interview, had sought to cast doubt on Salah’s standing within ODM, saying the party had resolved he should not be permitted to speak on its behalf since he holds no membership card.

    Ruth Odinga

    Salah dismissed this framing with remarkable force, declaring that ODM was never the private property of any one family and issuing what amounted to an ultimatum.

    “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. Baba spent more than 20 years building ODM into a national party. It belongs to the people of Kenya, from every part of this country,” he wrote, in words that will reverberate through the party’s structures for days to come.

    But perhaps the sharpest blade in his arsenal was reserved for the growing civil war between Ruth and her elder brother, ODM acting party leader Dr Oburu Odinga. Salah told Ruth in barely veiled terms that her public attacks against Oburu were a dangerous game of political self-destruction that she would live to regret.

    “You should stop fighting your elder brother, who is the current party leader. Dr Oburu Odinga did not simply assume a position; he carries a responsibility, and Baba entrusted me, in good faith, to work with him. If you allow your elder brother to be put on the chopping board today, do not be surprised if tomorrow it is your turn,” he warned, in a prophecy that will not be easily forgotten.

    Salah also refused to retreat on his most controversial claim — that Raila, in his final days, had resolved to endorse President William Ruto for a second term in 2027. Both Winnie Odinga and Raila Junior have furiously rejected this assertion, with Winnie suggesting in a previous interview that Salah should be urgently referred to a mental health facility. Salah was unmoved.

    “Baba was clear to me that he intended to endorse President William Samoei Ruto for a second term. I am duty-bound to speak honestly about what he told me, without fear, without distortion and without seeking permission from anyone,” he stated, doubling down with a defiance that suggests this battle is far from over.

    The public spat marks the latest chapter in a turbulent few months for the Odinga family and the party Raila built, as competing factions jostle over his political legacy, the direction of ODM, and the terms of any future pact with the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition.

    Raila Odinga died on October 15, 2025, aged 80, after suffering a cardiac arrest during a morning walk while receiving treatment in India. He had led ODM for over two decades, transforming it into one of Kenya’s most powerful political vehicles.

    Salah, a businessman from Migori with no formal elected position, first attracted national attention during Raila’s final months by posting regular updates on the opposition icon’s health and describing himself as an adopted son. The claims have divided opinion sharply, with Oburu, his son Jaoko Oburu, and Mama Ida Odinga reportedly acknowledging him at various public events, while Winnie, Raila Junior, and now Ruth have moved to distance the family from him entirely.

    Dennis Onyango, Raila’s former spokesman, stepped into the debate this week with a partial defence, telling a local radio station that Salah was indeed a familiar face around Raila and had been known to everyone in the leader’s inner circle. Onyango confirmed that Salah had accompanied Raila on travels and communicated regularly with the former PM, though he stopped short of endorsing the adopted son label.

    Yet the walls have not entirely held. ODM national chairperson Gladys Wanga was compelled to publicly clarify last week that Salah neither represents nor speaks for the party in any capacity, a declaration that underlined just how alarming his growing visibility had become to the party establishment.

    Salah closed his statement with a passage laced with the kind of quiet grief that no political statement can fully contain. “Finally, I say this with a heavy heart: I am the one who spent most of Baba’s final moments with him. Those moments were real, painful and deeply personal. I will not allow that truth to be erased or turned into political theatre.”

    “I speak today not out of anger but out of respect for Baba’s memory and for the truth,” he concluded.

    Whether that truth is accepted, disputed, or drowned out by the noise of a party in the throes of a succession crisis may well define the next chapter of Kenyan opposition politics.

  • Oketch Salah Strikes Back At Ruth Odinga In Explosive Public Feud

    Oketch Salah Strikes Back At Ruth Odinga In Explosive Public Feud

    Migori businessman Oketch Salah has fired back at Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, sparking a bitter public feud that has sent shockwaves through political circles. The row intensified after Ruth publicly disowned Salah, questioning his ties to the late Raila Odinga and distancing both the Odinga family and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) from his political activities.

    Salah responded in a fiery statement on X on February 19, 2026, defending his close association with Raila and accusing Ruth of spreading inaccurate claims.

    The clash highlights growing tensions over Raila’s legacy, party leadership, and the influence of outsiders in ODM politics. Salah insists his involvement was personal, tied solely to Raila, while Ruth maintains he has no authority to speak on family or party matters.

    The Oketch Salah-Ruth Odinga feud has now moved beyond private disagreements into a highly public battle over legacy, loyalty, and political influence within ODM. Both sides are determined not to back down, leaving the party and the public to witness one of the most bitter political exchanges in recent Kenyan history. [Photo//Courtesy]

    Oketch Salah-Ruth Odinga Feud Turns Fierce With Blistering Accusations

    Oketch Salah wasted no time addressing Ruth Odinga directly. In his X statement, he described her public remarks as “unfortunate” and “inaccurate,” insisting that his connection was always with the late Raila Odinga alone.

    “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,” Salah wrote. “My relationship was with your late brother, Baba, and that relationship stood on its own. It had nothing to do with any other member of the family.”

    Salah also provided specific examples of his support for the Odinga family. He claimed he was instrumental in bringing Ruth to India at Raila’s invitation, arranging her business-class travel and coordinating her stay. Salah explained that he returned to Kenya early only because Raila asked him to attend his son’s wedding, which had been repeatedly postponed due to the elder Odinga’s health.

    He stressed that his political engagement was driven by Raila’s instructions, not personal ambition. “I come from a well-established business family. I am self-sufficient, and whatever I have done for ODM was at Baba’s request,” he said.

    Salah also reminded Ruth that ODM belongs to the Kenyan people, not a single family. He warned against internal fights, highlighting the responsibilities of party leaders such as Dr. Oburu Odinga. He cautioned that disrespecting leadership could have consequences for her in the future.

    Ruth Odinga Rejects Salah’s Claims

    Ruth Odinga struck back a day earlier, distancing herself from Salah and questioning the depth of his relationship with the Odinga family. Speaking on local TV on February 18, 2026, she said she had met Salah only three times.

    “I really don’t know him that well. I am one of the people surprised that he says he knows me,” she said. She criticized Salah for revealing private conversations with her late brother, saying, “If at all he was my brother’s friend, he should have had the integrity not to disclose private talks.”

    Ruth also requested space for the family during their grief and emphasized that Salah has no right to speak on behalf of ODM since he is not a party member. She disputed his claims of being present at Raila’s final moments in India, asserting that she was with her brother until the end.

    Family Backlash Intensifies

    The feud extends beyond Ruth. Earlier, East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga condemned Salah’s claims about Raila’s final moments, calling them lies and questioning his intentions. She said his statements crossed a line, veering into deliberate misinformation.

    “He should be rushed to either Mathare or DCI with immediate effect,” Winnie Odinga said, expressing outrage over Salah’s public assertions.

    Salah, meanwhile, has continued to defend his narrative. He claimed he was with Raila from the onset of his illness until his last moments, describing their relationship as deeply personal and emotionally significant. He framed his statements not as a political move but as a tribute to Raila’s memory, insisting on honesty without fear or distortion.

    Oketch Salah, a prominent businessman from Migori, gained attention in Raila’s last months for sharing updates about the elder statesman’s health. While some family members and party officials reject his claims, Salah remains steadfast, emphasizing his loyalty to Raila and asserting that his role was personal, not political.

     

  • Grand Fallout: How Control Over Billions Is Splitting ODM In The Middle

    Grand Fallout: How Control Over Billions Is Splitting ODM In The Middle

    The Orange Democratic Movement, Kenya’s most storied opposition party, is hemorrhaging from within over questions nobody wants to answer: who controls the money, where are the millions coming from, and who truly speaks for the party that Raila Odinga built over two decades?

    Three months after the death of its founding pillar, ODM finds itself in a brutal civil war between two camps, each claiming the mantle of legitimacy, each mobilizing parallel grassroots rallies, and each accusing the other of betraying the very soul of the orange revolution.

    At the heart of this spectacular disintegration lies one stubborn truth that party insiders whisper but dare not say publicly: control of ODM means control of billions in political funding, patronage networks, and the keys to State House itself in 2027.

    The party’s Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna lit the match that has now consumed the party when he went on national television and made a claim so explosive it sent shockwaves through the political establishment.

    The ongoing Linda Ground rallies, he declared, are not being financed from ODM coffers.

    As a signatory to the party’s bank accounts alongside National Treasurer Timothy Bosire, Sifuna stated categorically that no money has left official party accounts since the 20th anniversary celebrations in Mombasa last November.

    “I can state authoritatively that the resources you see being spent in ODM rallies, the so-called Linda Ground forums, are not coming from ODM headquarters,” Sifuna told Citizen TV, his words measured but lethal. “There is parallel funding for activities clothed in ODM colours.”

    The implications of this statement cannot be overstated.

    Someone, somewhere, is bankrolling a multi-million shilling political operation under the ODM brand without going through official party channels.

    The rallies have featured helicopters ferrying party bigwigs across counties, massive tents accommodating thousands, freshly printed ODM-branded T-shirts and caps, and logistics that suggest access to deep pockets.

    Sifuna’s revelation raises the question that has now split the party down the middle: if not from party accounts, then where is the money coming from?

    Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, sister to the late Raila Odinga and niece to current party leader Oburu Oginga, has offered the most incendiary answer.

    In a blistering statement defending Sifuna, she accused the government of President William Ruto of directly funding the Linda Ground rallies as a mechanism of control.

    “The money flying in choppers, being used to procure big tents and to mobilize and brand crowds in ODM colours, yet the same money cannot be sent to the ODM Party bank accounts, only means one thing: control,” Ruth declared. “The government has the option of releasing the funds to the party, but when that happens, they will lack control. So, they must be the ones controlling the show, where they decide who is invited to the Linda Ground tents, and what they say once they get there.”

    Her questions cut to the bone of ODM’s current predicament. Are governors funding the campaigns from county coffers? Are MPs diverting Constituency Development Fund money? Did a mysterious philanthropist suddenly develop an interest in keeping ODM afloat? And crucially, what does this shadowy benefactor want in return?

    The Linda Ground faction, led by party leader Oburu Oginga, National Chairperson Gladys Wanga, deputy party leaders Simba Arati and Abdulswamad Nassir, and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed, has remained conspicuously silent on the funding question. Instead, they have pivoted to attacking Sifuna’s legitimacy and questioning his loyalty.

    Oburu, in a sharply worded statement, accused his Secretary-General of confusing party members by conflating personal opinions with official party policy. “The Secretary General has occasionally struggled to distinguish between his personal opinions and official party policy as determined by our constitutionally mandated organs,” Oburu said, in what many read as a thinly veiled threat. “This has, understandably, created confusion among members and supporters.”

    But Oburu’s counterattack has done little to address the elephant in the room. The Linda Ground rallies have now visited Kakamega, Busia, Kisumu, Kisii, and Nyamira counties, with speakers consistently pushing for a pre-election coalition with President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance. The optics are damning: a supposedly independent opposition party conducting expensive mobilization drives while its Secretary-General publicly states the party itself is not paying for them.

    Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir attempted damage control by suggesting the rallies are funded by individual leaders out of goodwill, invoking the spirit of how Raila Odinga’s past campaigns were financed. “When we were moving around the country with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was the party financing those activities?” Nassir asked. “This party has many people who support it and do not necessarily focus on finances.”

    The explanation has been met with skepticism. ODM, according to Sifuna, is owed a staggering Sh12 billion by the National Treasury in unremitted Political Parties Fund allocations. The Treasury is legally required to provide at least 0.3 percent of national government revenue to the fund, with 80 percent distributed based on votes in the last election. Yet ODM cannot access these funds even as millions flow into parallel structures bearing its name.

    “As we speak, ODM is owed a total of Sh12 billion by the Treasury, yet we are being told that my former chairperson is the Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury,” Sifuna said, referencing John Mbadi, the ODM treasurer who now serves in Ruto’s government. The irony is not lost on anyone: ODM’s own appointees now control the very ministries that owe the party billions.

    The factional warfare has now spawned competing grassroots tours. While Oburu’s Linda Ground rallies preach accommodation with Ruto’s government, Sifuna’s faction has launched Linda Mwananchi rallies, starting in Busia on February 8, to counter what they see as the sellout of ODM’s founding principles. Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, and Saboti MP Caleb Amisi have thrown their weight behind the Sifuna camp, arguing that ODM must field its own presidential candidate in 2027 rather than back Ruto.

    “We have an opportunity of a lifetime here because of how the votes were split in 2022,” Sifuna argued. “Our candidate lost by a margin of 200,000 votes. In my estimation, if we just kept the constituencies that voted for Raila Odinga, we don’t need to do anything else because the person who has lost the biggest chunk of votes is Ruto, and so we would actually win.”

    Orengo has been more blunt, warning of a plot to “auction” ODM to President Ruto and vowing to protect the party’s identity. His language suggests the battle is existential: either ODM remains an independent force capable of challenging the government, or it becomes a client organization subsumed into the very power structures it was created to oppose.

    The leadership crisis is compounded by questions over Oburu’s own installation as party leader. Sifuna has publicly challenged the process, arguing it violated party constitution. According to Sifuna, who was in Mumbai, India, helping repatriate Raila’s body when the decision was made, ODM’s constitution required that one of the deputy party leaders act temporarily pending a special National Delegates Convention. Instead, the National Governing Council directly installed Oburu without the constitutionally mandated NDC approval.

    “The installation of Oburu Oginga as interim party leader was not procedural in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution,” Sifuna stated. “What I would have advised had I been in that meeting is to allow one of the deputies to act for one month, and in three months’ time, call for a special NDC and do it procedurally and properly.”

    Oburu has fired back with equal force, pointing out that Sifuna himself was elected Secretary-General by the same National Governing Council in February 2018 and only later endorsed by the NDC in 2022. “One cannot selectively invalidate the very processes that conferred legitimacy upon oneself,” Oburu said, in what many read as a checkmate argument.

    The spectacle reached its nadir on February 6 when businessman Oketch Salah, who styled himself as Raila’s adopted son, organized an event at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre featuring ODM-branded merchandise bearing President Ruto’s portrait. Attendees wore orange T-shirts and caps emblazoned with the face of the man Raila spent decades opposing. The imagery was jarring, almost obscene to party loyalists who remember the battles of 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022.

    ODM moved swiftly to distance itself. In a statement signed by National Chairperson Gladys Wanga, the party declared that Salah’s activities are carried out strictly in his personal capacity and do not represent or bind ODM. But the damage was done. The sight of ODM colors fused with Ruto’s image crystallized the fears of the Sifuna faction: that powerful forces within and outside the party are working to deliver ODM wholesale to the government.

    Saboti MP Caleb Amisi captured the visceral reaction when he demanded to know: “When did ODM NDC meet and approve that our t-shirts and caps be printed with Ruto’s image?”

    Salah has complicated matters further by claiming to possess knowledge of Raila’s final political wishes. According to Salah, Raila wanted a strengthened ODM to eventually endorse Ruto for re-election in 2027. He has also alleged that Raila suspected Sifuna of being someone’s mole, claims that have been furiously rejected by Raila’s biological children. East African Legislative Assembly MP Winnie Odinga dismissed Salah’s accounts as fabrications, stating she was at her father’s side in his final moments, not Salah. Raila Odinga Junior backed his sister, calling Salah’s assertions “nonsense.”

    Yet Salah’s claims have found traction within the Oburu camp, which has been careful not to disavow them even as they publicly distance from Salah’s methods. This ambiguity feeds suspicion that Salah is expressing openly what powerful figures within ODM prefer to keep veiled.

    The money trail tells its own story. ODM’s official bank accounts have been dormant for months even as lavish political theater unfolds across the country under its banner. The party is owed billions by a government that includes its own members in cabinet positions. Parallel funding structures operate outside party oversight. And all of this is happening as ODM prepares for what should be the most consequential election of its existence, coming off a loss to Ruto by just 200,000 votes.

    Political analyst Professor Macharia Munene has warned that ODM may not survive the competing interests tearing it apart. “Even Raila knew that Sifuna was popular,” Munene noted, suggesting the current leadership underestimates the Secretary-General’s support base at its peril.

    Ida Odinga, widow of the founding leader, has urged rival factions to embrace dialogue to avert a split. Speaking to Nairobi legislators, she warned that sustained infighting could undermine two decades of political legacy. “It is my wish that we preserve the party in Baba’s honour as a service to our country,” she said, her voice carrying the weight of a woman who has watched her husband’s life work threatened by the very people he elevated.

    But dialogue seems increasingly unlikely. The Sifuna faction has boycotted Central Management Committee meetings, arguing the leadership under Oburu lacks procedural legitimacy. Oburu, for his part, has challenged critics to face him at the NDC, insisting he does not fear anyone. The party now operates with parallel structures, parallel tours, parallel narratives, and most damningly, parallel sources of funding.

    The stakes could not be higher. Control of ODM means control of the largest opposition party in Kenya. It means control of parliamentary minority leadership positions. It means control of billions in political party funding. It means the power to decide whether Kenya has a viable opposition in 2027 or whether the political space consolidates entirely under Ruto’s presidency.

    For the Oburu faction, cooperation with government is pragmatic politics that ensures ODM members are not left out of national development and decision-making. It is the difference between power and irrelevance. For the Sifuna faction, the same cooperation represents a catastrophic betrayal of ODM’s founding mission to provide an alternative to establishment power.

    Between these irreconcilable positions lies the corpse of consensus. The party that Raila built as a vehicle for democratic reform now teeters on the edge of civil war, its leaders too busy fighting over control to notice the ground shifting beneath them. The orange revolution that inspired millions is now reduced to competing rallies funded by sources nobody will name, advancing agendas nobody will explicitly state, all while the party that claims to represent them bleeds out in public.

    As 2027 approaches, only one certainty remains: whatever ODM becomes after this civil war, it will not be the party Raila left behind. The only question is whether it will be recognizable at all.

  • The Mystery of Oketch Salah and The Business He Was Doing With Raila

    The Mystery of Oketch Salah and The Business He Was Doing With Raila

    How a Migori Businessman Leveraged Proximity to Kenya’s Political Icon to Build a Gold Mining Empire

    Three months after the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, questions continue to swirl around Mohammed Abdi Jama, better known as Oketch Salah, the self-styled adopted son who has emerged from the shadows to position himself at the intersection of Kenya’s most powerful political and business networks.

    At the heart of the mystery lies a simple question that has captivated and divided the nation. What business was Salah really conducting with Raila, and how did a relatively unknown figure from Migori transform himself into a man who now arrives at political events by helicopter, dines with presidents, and claims intimate knowledge of Kenya’s most revered politician’s final wishes?

    The answer, investigations reveal, lies in the lucrative and politically connected world of gold mining in Nyatike, where fortunes are made not just underground but in the corridors of power.

    Salah’s family background offers the first clue to understanding his trajectory. Born to Abdi Salah, a wealthy businessman who owned Migori’s first storey building in the 1970s and ran a successful bakery, young Mohammed grew up in relative privilege. The family, part of the Somali immigrant community that settled in Migori through Mandera, integrated fully into Luo society. Salah became fluent in Dholuo, attended Ombo Primary School and later Kangeso Secondary School, and built the cultural bridges that would later serve his ambitions.

    But his path was far from linear. After his father’s death and burial in a Migori cemetery, Salah moved to Mombasa, where he worked as a loader for a transport company in Miritini before being promoted to supervisor. From there, he made his way to Somalia and eventually to the United States under the Temporary Protected Status program, a humanitarian provision that Congress created for nationals from countries facing armed conflict or disasters.

    It was during this period abroad that Salah accumulated capital that he would later wire back to Kenya. When President Donald Trump’s administration ended the protected status for Somali immigrants in March this year, Salah had already returned to Kenya with a fortune and a plan.

    The gold rush in Nyatike provided the perfect opportunity. The Migori Greenstone Belt, an extension of the gold-rich Tanzanian Craton, has long been one of Kenya’s most productive gold regions. With an estimated production of 34 tonnes per year generating approximately 67 billion shillings, the area attracts investors from around the world. But success in this sector requires more than geological knowledge. It demands political connections and government goodwill.

    This is where Raila Odinga entered the picture, and where Salah’s story takes a calculated turn.

    Sources familiar with the arrangement say Salah initially befriended former Nyatike MP Onyango Anyanga while the politician was still in Parliament and close to Raila. Through Anyanga, who later fell out with the ODM leader so spectacularly that he vowed to denounce his party membership, Salah gained his crucial introduction to the former Prime Minister.

    What followed was a masterclass in leveraging political proximity for business advantage. Salah registered a gold mining company and began telling potential partners and investors across Africa that Raila was not just his mentor but a shareholder in his ventures. His social media pages, which only became active in late September 2025 as Raila’s health declined, became a carefully curated showcase of access and influence.

    Photos showed Salah with Raila on flights, enjoying meals, dancing at events, and visiting foreign capitals. Unlike many Muslims, Salah was photographed enjoying hard drinks and shisha with the political elite, a detail that former schoolmates say reflects his pragmatic approach to business and networking. The images served a dual purpose: they cemented his credentials as Raila’s confidant while simultaneously advertising his access to power for business purposes.

    The strategy worked spectacularly. Salah secured meetings with African leaders, including Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, framing his visits as business missions focused on mining and energy. For a private Kenyan citizen with no formal government position, such access raised obvious questions about the networks and interests at play. Was he genuinely Raila’s adopted son, or was this designation a convenient business card that opened doors across the continent?

    Dr. Oburu Oginga, Raila’s elder brother who now leads ODM, has publicly endorsed Salah, calling him “a son of Raila” and highlighting his role during the former Prime Minister’s final days in India. At Salah’s son Abdinoor’s wedding at Serena Hotel on October 25, just ten days after Raila’s death, Oburu told the gathering that Salah “was taking care of Raila until the day he breathed his last.”

    But Raila’s own family tells a starkly different story. His daughter Winnie Odinga has been unequivocal in her rejection of Salah’s claims. In a recent television interview, she dismissed him as someone she “would like to believe nobody really knows” and suggested he should be “rushed to Mathare or the DCI” for making false and dangerous statements about her father. Her sister Ruth Odinga, Kisumu Woman Representative and Raila’s sister, was equally devastating in her assessment, admitting she cannot even place who Salah is despite his claims of intimate family ties.

    The contradictions extend to Salah’s professional credentials. While he styles himself as “Dr. Oketch Salah” and claimed to be Raila’s personal physician, investigations by multiple media houses have found no trace of his name in the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Dentists and Pharmacists Council registers. The real Raila family doctor was Dr. David Oluoch Olunya, a respected neurosurgeon who attended to the former Prime Minister for over two decades.

    Oketch Salah and Raila Odinga.
    Oketch Salah and Raila Odinga.

    Some of Salah’s claims strain credulity entirely. Reports have credited him with performing brain surgeries on hippopotamuses in Muhuru Bay, heart operations on hyenas in Seme, stopping coronavirus spread among animals in the Serengeti and Maasai Mara, and upgrading the Raboral VRG vaccine, all supposedly done “using pure talent, not textbooks.” Medical professionals describe these claims as fantastical.

    Yet despite these red flags, Salah has successfully inserted himself into Kenya’s political machinery in ways that suggest either genuine connections or sophisticated manipulation. He attended State House functions alongside President William Ruto and Oburu Oginga during celebrations for broad-based government legislators. He has pledged to financially support ten youths from Jacaranda Bunge la Wananchi with 50,000 shillings each, plus motorcycles for men and hairdressing equipment for women, mirroring Raila’s 2022 campaign promise of a 6,000 shilling monthly stipend.

    Most controversially, Salah claimed at an ODM meeting in Bondo that Raila wanted the party to endorse President Ruto in the 2027 presidential race, a statement that has split ODM down the middle and thrust him into the eye of a political storm. Neither Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura nor State House Spokesman Hussein Mohamed has commented on who Salah is or whether he holds any official government position.

    The silence from State House is particularly telling given Salah’s documented visits and the fact that when Raila died in India, President Ruto stated he had been briefed by both the family and “his friend who was in India.” Multiple sources suggest Salah was providing intelligence from Raila’s inner circle to government operatives, much as critics now accuse Junet Mohamed of having done during the 2022 elections.

    Political analyst David Makali draws parallels between Salah’s operations and those of Mohamed Noor, the feared oil tycoon and State House agent during the Moi era who wielded enormous power through his proximity to the presidency. “The pattern is familiar,” Makali says. “Position yourself close to a political figure, claim special knowledge and access, and monetize that proximity. The question is always: who benefits, and what is being traded?”

    For Salah, the benefits appear substantial. He now travels by helicopter, maintains multiple business interests including his gold mining operations in Nyatike, and has positioned himself as a kingmaker within ODM factions supporting the broad-based government. His financial backing of pro-government ODM politicians has become an open secret in political circles.

    But the arrangement raises troubling questions about the final months of Raila Odinga’s life. Why was Salah, rather than long-time aide Maurice Ogetta, present during critical moments in India? In his own statements, Salah revealed that the security officer present when Raila had a health scare at his Karen home was Francis Ogolla, not Ogetta, contradicting earlier accounts and fueling speculation about who controlled access to the ailing leader.

    Activists and Raila supporters have noted Salah’s shifting and contradictory accounts of the former Prime Minister’s final days. Some claim he is traveling across the country distributing money to quell dissent and questions about what really transpired in India. Others point to allegations that Salah was secretly recording Raila using high-tech surveillance equipment, pens, buttons, and other discreet spying gadgets, then forwarding information to unnamed masters.

    The broader implications extend beyond one man’s alleged opportunism. Salah’s story illuminates the murky intersection of business and politics in Kenya, where mining licenses, government contracts, and political influence are often traded in ways that benefit a connected few while excluding the communities most affected.

    In Nyatike, where artisanal miners dig 400 feet underground in dangerous conditions for a fraction of the profits, the gold sector generates billions while locals struggle. County officials complain that bureaucratic processes and national government involvement mean the county sees little benefit despite hosting such lucrative operations. Artisanal miners capture only 25 percent of the gold value, with 75 percent remaining in waste materials later collected by those with “advanced technology,” a category that likely includes well-connected businessmen like Salah.

    The question of what business Salah was really doing with Raila may never be fully answered. The former Prime Minister took many secrets to his grave. But the evidence suggests a transactional relationship in which Salah provided companionship, assistance, and perhaps intelligence during Raila’s declining years, while extracting in return the ultimate business asset: proximity to power.

    Whether Salah was genuinely devoted to Raila or skillfully exploiting an aging politician’s need for support may be less important than understanding the system that allowed such arrangements to flourish. In a country where political connections can transform a Migori businessman into a player on the national stage, the Oketch Salah phenomenon is less an aberration than a symptom.

    Attempts to reach Salah for comment were unsuccessful. His social media pages continue to post photos from political events and business meetings, each image a testament to a proximity he claims as family ties but which others see as something far more calculated.

    As Kenya heads toward the 2027 elections with ODM fractured and Raila’s legacy contested, the shadow of Oketch Salah looms large. His gold mining ventures in Nyatike continue. His political influence appears to be growing. And the questions about what really happened during Raila Odinga’s final days, and who benefited most from that access, remain largely unanswered.

    In the end, the mystery of Oketch Salah and the business he was doing with Raila reveals an uncomfortable truth about Kenyan politics. Power, proximity, and profit form a triangle in which the lines between family, friendship, and transaction blur beyond recognition. And in that ambiguity, fortunes are made while the public is left to wonder who was serving whom, and at what cost.

  • Winnie Odinga, Oketch Salah Clash Over Raila’s Last Moments

    Winnie Odinga, Oketch Salah Clash Over Raila’s Last Moments

    Conflicting public accounts by EALA MP Winnie Odinga and businessman Oketch Salah over the late Raila Odinga’s final moments have ignited a tense public exchange, reopening a sensitive debate as the country continues to mourn one of its most consequential political figures.

    The clash unfolded after a Citizen TV interview aired on Tuesday night in which Winnie forcefully dismissed Salah’s claims that he was among those closest to Raila in his last hours. Winnie described the assertions as false and dangerous, saying they misrepresented events surrounding her father’s death and raised serious questions about motive.

    She told the programme that Salah was neither part of Raila’s inner circle nor present at the time of his passing, adding that while she had met him before, he was not someone known to the family. Winnie said the circulation of unverified accounts at such a moment caused unnecessary pain and confusion, arguing that claims about Raila’s final moments should not be treated casually.

    Winnie went further to suggest that individuals spreading what she termed fabrications should be scrutinised by relevant authorities, warning that public speculation during a period of mourning risked distressing the family and misleading the public.

    Salah had earlier shared emotional recollections of Raila, portraying himself as someone who spent meaningful time with the former Prime Minister shortly before his death. His remarks attracted sympathy online but also scepticism, particularly after Winnie’s rebuttal on national television.

    Several hours after the interview, Salah issued a written response online, saying he had deliberately chosen silence out of respect for Raila’s widow, Mama Ida Odinga. He said his restraint should not be mistaken for retreat, adding that he stood by his account of his last moments with Raila.

    Salah maintained that his experiences were real and painful, but declined to offer further details, saying he would address the matter in an interview at a later date. He also said he had no interest in engaging in emotional exchanges during a period of national mourning.

    Oketch Salah while accompanying late former prime minister Raila Odinga in India.
    Oketch Salah while accompanying late former prime minister Raila Odinga in India.

    The standoff quickly spilled onto social media, with Kenyans sharply divided. Some rallied behind Winnie, arguing that no one should appropriate a family’s grief or insert themselves into a deeply private moment for public attention. Others called for clarity, insisting that truthful accounts of Raila’s final days mattered for the historical record of a man who shaped the country’s politics for decades.

    Winnie has consistently drawn a firm line between public legacy and private grief. In the same Citizen TV interview, she revealed that she spent two hours with her father the night before he died but said those conversations were deeply personal and not meant for public consumption. She cautioned against speculation, saying it was disrespectful for anyone to attribute words or intentions to Raila without certainty.

    She reflected on her long and complex relationship with her father, describing him as not only a parent but also her party leader, mentor and closest friend. Winnie said coping with his absence had been difficult, but added that the family had drawn closer as they adjusted to life without him.

    Raila Odinga died on October 15, 2025, aged 80, while undergoing treatment at a hospital in India. He was laid to rest four days later at his family home in Bondo, Siaya County, in a ceremony attended by local and international leaders and marked by full military honours following a presidential proclamation.

    As tributes continue to pour in and personal stories emerge, the dispute between Winnie and Salah underscores the sensitivity surrounding Raila’s final moments and the tension between public memory and private loss. For the Odinga family, the message has been clear: some truths, especially in grief, are not for public contest.