Raila taught us what true leadership means
Opinion
By
Mark Oloo
| Oct 18, 2025
One early morning in December 2018, ODM chief Raila Odinga was in high spirits at his Karen home, sharing a hearty feast of tea, boiled maize and arrowroots with me.
He was from the gym, drained and hungry. Joining us at the table was fellow journalist Stephen Makabila. In the parking lot, many delegations waited for their turn to meet the big man.
We had come to interview the enigma for a Sunday Standard splash but our meeting quickly adopted a social tone, with Odinga asking us more questions than we asked him. Since my mother comes from his own clan of Sakwa in Bondo, he called me ‘okewa,’ Luo for nephew.
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Then hearing that I hailed from Homa Bay, he asked how far my home was from that of the late politician Orwa Ojode. Amid chuckles, he recounted how his car got stuck in the mud during one of his campaign escapades in my area in the 1990’s on a day the police were hot on his trail.
Watching him enjoy his breakfast, crack jokes and mingle with us, I appreciate the humanness in this man. He was a political hulk and an institution, no doubt but that morning, stripped of the spotlight, Odinga was like the rest of us – human, hungry, jokey and sweaty from the gym.
By the way, the week leading up to our visit, Odinga had dominated the headlines of all the major newspapers, Monday to Monday. At one point, he asked me: “Why do you people in the media put me in the headlines all the time? I see Raila this, Raila that…Is it about sales? Why only me? Does it mean only fat cows sell in the market?” Before I answered, he laughed it off.
Odinga died this week, but I hardly know where to begin mourning him. In February when he went to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Africa Union Commission chairmanship elections, I addressed Baba, Agwambo, Tinga, Chuma liet, Wuod Nyar Alego, Okewgi Oneya, Nyundo, the fulcrum of our politics, in this column. Hopefully he read it.
My concern then was the fate of ODM in the event he bagged the AU seat. I urged Odinga to help his allies see the light. I questioned why the party was in government with one foot in and the other out. I urged him to let ODM be adopted by President William Ruto’s UDA. Later, during the devolution conference in Homa Bay, I praised Odinga for calling out unethical media. Little did I know the enigma’s days were numbered.
But again, how do you mourn someone whose word was law unto millions? The People’s President. Today, Odinga’s journey is a stark reminder of how constitutionalism became a poisoned chalice for him. His belief in the rule of law made him afraid to bend it even when others cut corners. He let go of sham elections. He was purely a victim of his own conscience.
Owadgi Akinyi fits the description of a true leader, as defined by John Quincy Adams, the sixth US President, who said: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” Odinga inspired belief in the Kenyan. The only man, who could declare any day a holiday, was higher than the presidency.
Like Odinga, a good leader sometimes zigs while others zag, yet still touches lives and leaves a lasting legacy. Author Rasheed Ogunlaru once said that in leadership, life and all things, it is far wiser to judge people by their deeds than by words because track record speaks louder than talk.
The icon drew strength from self-confidence, personal discipline, a positive attitude and an unshakable belief that Kenyans could shape their destiny. His politics was anchored on issues. He detested name-calling, yet still rallied the nation around reforms. As we bury the enigma, let’s not reduce his death to jeering or a campaign talking point. Jakom’s legacy deserves more.
-The writer is a communications practitioner.