Ida Odinga Responds to Mbadi's 'Where Is Baba Now' Comment

Kenya's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme, Ida Odinga, stated that she is not worried by Treasury CS John Mbadi's comments about the late Raila Odinga.

Speaking on Friday, May 15, Mama Ida claimed that CS Mbadi was speaking out of excitement, but stated that his comments could never erase Baba's legacy.

She stated that despite his passing, Raila still had a lot of influence in the country and the likes of Mbadi still have a lot to learn a lot from him.

"Physically, they are gone, and sometimes I hear people asking,' Where are they now?', but we are not worried.

"Sometimes politicians get very excited because they think that he is gone, and therefore nothing. We learn from the history that they've left behind," Mama Ida stated.

The Odinga family matriarch drew from the writings of William Shakespeare and Prof Mbithi and explained that death was part of life's journey.

She added that while death physically takes an individual, the person can remain alive in the minds of people, and in Raila's case, the country.

"Shakespeare said no life lives forever, and a dead man rises never, but at the same time, Prof Mbithi's book on African religious studies, he says that so long as people are remembering you and mentioning your name, then you are the living dead.

"When he talks about the living dead, I think he is talking about Raila, Jaramogi and the great people who have left us physically, but their spirit is here with us," Mama Ida said.

EALA MP Winnie Odinga also called out Mbadi over his call for ODM to move on after the former Premier's death.

Winnie told the Treasury Boss to stop talking too much and focus on delivering on the job. She argued that the Treasury was not a political seat and that he should focus more on making the lives of Kenyans better, given the worrying state of the economy.

The late Raila's daughter questioned why some of the leaders in government addressed Kenyans recklessly.

Mbadi was caught in the line of fire after he told Kisumu Woman Rep Ruth Odinga that she and other leaders who felt that they better understood Raila, that they could not dictate the future of ODM.

When the CS made the remark, it was in the context of questioning, where Raila was to ascertain the claims of some of the leaders who claimed to have received directions from him on how to run the party.