Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga has revealed that his late brother, Raila Odinga, was battling a blood clot in his head before he succumbed in India. Speaking during an interview on NTV on Sunday night, Oburu shared intimate details about the medical complications that led to the ODM leader’s final days.
According to Oburu, the clot was discovered by doctors in Nairobi, who prescribed strong medication to help dissolve it. The medication, however, took a toll on Raila’s health, forcing him to withdraw from public engagements. “It was some clot that was discovered on his head, and it was being dissolved by our doctors here in Nairobi,” Oburu disclosed.
Raila’s illness became noticeable weeks before his demise when he stopped making public appearances. He skipped key events, including the burial of former minister Dalmas Otieno in Migori, where Oburu represented him. Additionally, ODM called off its much-anticipated 20th Anniversary celebrations at the last minute.
“I went to represent him there because he was feeling weak and tired because of that kind of medication,” Oburu explained.
The senator further revealed that a decisive meeting at Raila’s Karen home, attended by President William Ruto and himself, resolved to evacuate the opposition leader to India for specialized treatment. “Raila called me and told me that it is Ruto who was to come to his house at 6, and I should go there at 6. I went there and waited for him for about an hour, but he finally came,” Oburu recounted.
He added that there had been conflicting opinions between Kenyan doctors and specialists in Dubai over Raila’s condition, which prompted President Ruto’s intervention to facilitate his medical transfer to India.
Oburu maintained that although Raila was unwell, he was not in critical condition when he left Kenya. “I just said that he is unwell, like all human beings become unwell at any other time,” he clarified.
