As many, including locals, guests and leaders converged to bid farewell to opposition leader Raila Odinga’s first born son Fidel Odinga, some were present to misbehave and embarrass others.
It was on Saturday, January 10, 2015, at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Institute of Science and Technology, an event that also included delegates representing Raila’s then political rival President Uhuru Kenyatta.
But as the delegated guests got on the dais to condole with the departed family, some rowdy youth shouted some of them down, with most of the victims being top government officials.
Among those who were heckled and booed was Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo who hails from the same region and then Water and Housing Minister Charity Ngilu who is now the Kitui Governor.
This happened in the full glare of the host, whose influence in the region proved unusable, as the crowd ignored his intervention and kept shouting.
The crowd later resorted to throwing bottles at Omamo who made an attempt to read Uhuru’s message of condolence anyway.
In his speech at the tail end of the event, Raila rebuked the hecklers, terming it wrong to boo a person who has travelled a long distance to stand with you at a time of grief.
“In our culture, we believe whoever stands with you at a time of grief is your friend. How do you turn around and boo such people and try to stop them from speaking?’’ the leader retorted as was quoted by the Standard.
Fidel was found dead at his Karen home in Nairobi days earlier and left behind a widow and a child.
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