The Day Raila was caught in a nuclear war standoff
National
By
Amos Kareithi
| Oct 16, 2025
The world is nervous as itchy fingers in Kyiv and Moscow dangerously dance around the key to mass deaths and doomsday. There are reports that some workers based in some Ukrainian Nuclear stations are missing. Russia is bombing and threatening. The world is fearfully waiting.
Russia has menacingly told the world that any weapon fired from a European country towards it will be a declaration of war and could end with the damnation of the world.
The last time the world was this close to nuclear war was at the height of the Cold War in 1962. Then, the two superpowers, America and Russia were squabbling over the presence of some nuclear weapons in Cuba.
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Earlier, America had unsuccessfully tried to topple Cuban President Fidel Castro who had, in turn, sought help from Russia. Moscow had supplied him with nuclear weapons and America was now demanding that they be removed. Cuba was nudging Russia to fire nuclear weapons and teach America a lesson.
In the ensuing game of brinkmanship, America declared a blockade on Cuba and ordered all US troops around the world to be on the lookout for ships that could be shipping weapons to Cuba.
This blockade had some unintended consequences for a teenage Kenyan, Raila Odinga, who was on his way to Russia to further his education. At the time he was aboard a200,000 tonnes cargo ship Stubbenkammer.
These happenings are captured in the autobiography, Raila Odinga: An Enigma in Kenyan Politics.
When US President John F Kennedy announced on BBC on 28 October 1962 that American troops had been placed on alert, Raila’s ship was sailing towards Cyprus en route to Malta.
Immediately after the captain of Stubbenkammer noticed that he was being trailed by an American warship of the US seventh fleet in the Mediterranean. The warship demanded to know the nature of the cargo and the people on board , and even after all the passengers and crew were taken to the signal room, the cargo ship was trailed all night with the big guns trained on its defenseless body and occupants.
Although the journey ended well for Raila, the ship Cuba and the world, the experience spoilt his Damascus moment. Prior to the episode, the opposition chief had just visited Syria and retraced Saul’s biblical journey up to the point where he was struck blind and transformed from a persecutor of Christ into a strong defender and pillar of Christianity.
Sixty years after visiting Syria, Raila has, like Saul had his Damascus moment. From a strong critic of government which has in the past earned him a decade in detention, Raila is now the strongest defender of the current government.
And as Raila prepares his battle to State House, the world hopes that itchy fingers will be kept pf the nuclear weapons switch.