By the time Raila Odinga gathered his closest allies at Nairobi’s Serena Hotel, few could have guessed it would be their final meeting with the man they had followed for decades.
According to Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, the former Prime Minister appeared calm, cheerful even, as he discussed party matters and hinted at upcoming celebrations to mark two decades of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
“He sat there, in high spirits, talking about politics as usual,” Osotsi recalled during a Monday evening interview on Citizen TV. “He told us he was fine but wanted to travel to India for medical check-ups.”
The closed-door meeting brought together some of ODM’s most senior figures — Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, MPs Junet Mohamed and Rosa Buyu, and party finance director Joshua Kawino among them. Their main agenda was the ODM@20 event, initially set for Mombasa.
Osotsi said Odinga asked whether the celebration should go ahead while he was away. “We decided to postpone it until he returned,” he said. “He insisted it should be big — a three-day event that brought together everyone who had ever passed through the party, even President Ruto.”
It was a rare show of magnanimity that some now see as symbolic — a final olive branch from a man who spent his life preaching unity even amid political storms.
Still, Osotsi hinted that there may have been something deeper in Odinga’s tone that day. “Looking back, I think he had a premonition about his death,” he said quietly.
The senator added that Odinga’s parting words were both practical and poignant: a call to keep ODM strong and open to new faces. “He urged us to build the party and bring more people on board before the next general election,” Osotsi noted.
Odinga’s passing weeks later, after what aides described as a routine medical visit to India, left the nation stunned. His final meeting now carries the weight of history — a leader’s last effort to prepare his political family for life without him.
For ODM, and for Kenya, it was not just the end of an era but the closing of a chapter written in courage, conviction, and unyielding faith in the power of dialogue.