Nairobi City County Chief Officer for Citizen Engagement Geoffrey Mosiria has appealed to Kenyans to stop criticising Dr. Ida Odinga for inviting leaders from across the political divide to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of her husband, former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga.
In an emotional statement shared on social media, Mosiria asked whether the public has forgotten the human side of the late opposition leader. “Have we forgotten that before Baba was a politician, he was a husband, a father, a brother, and a son of Kenya?” he asked.
Mosiria noted that Mama Ida stood by Mr. Odinga through political persecution, disappointments, victories and sacrifices. According to him, she often gave up time with her husband so that he could serve the nation, and she continues to share his legacy with Kenyans even in death.
He questioned whether it was fair to subject the widow to attacks after all she has endured. “Surely, after all she has endured, must we now subject her to attacks for choosing to invite leaders to honour her husband’s memory?” he asked.
Some critics have questioned why leaders such as former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua were invited. Mosiria responded that politics is shaped by shifting interests, competing opinions and changing alliances, and that today’s rivals can become tomorrow’s partners.
“We must never allow political differences to destroy our humanity,” he said. He added that while political disagreements pass, “the pain of losing someone you love is deeply personal and does not disappear with time.”
He also recalled that Mr. Odinga was part of the broad-based government when he died, and said death makes no political distinctions. Mama Ida’s invitations, he argued, should be understood “as an act of humanity, not a political betrayal.”
Mosiria urged critics to consider what the late leader would have wanted for the occasion: a day marked by “insults, hatred, and political divisions,” or one where Kenyans “come together, reflect, and honour his life.”
He called on the public not to turn “a widow’s moment of remembrance into another political battlefield” or to add to the pain of a family that has lost someone irreplaceable.
