Although he had been arrested, detained and beaten for agitating for democracy, Raila Odinga's rise to fame may have really come in 1995.
Before that, Mr Odinga was walking in his father's shadow, even having won the Lang'ata constituency seat in 1992. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was then Bondo MP and Ford Kenya leader.
But Raila's fortunes must have Vern shaped in 1995 at Thika, during the election Ford Kenya elections, which Mr Odinga was eyeing to replace Kijana Wamalwa as substantive chairman.
With Wamalwa having called a meeting at Thika stadium, Mr Odinga was intending to have another one at City stadium for elections.
But during the material day, he chose to travel to Thika with his delegates, who locked themselves within the stadium before Wamalwa's team came.
Thereafter, chaos broke out, forcing the police to fire live bullets. Afterwards, both Raila and Wamalwa claimed victory.
Okoth Otura, who now lives in Canada but was in Kenya recently and met Raila, says he was yet to fully recover from what he witnessed in Thika.
“I knew they were going to kill Raila. I have never been scared like that in my life. I heard a senior police officer ordering one of his juniors to aim at Raila and we had to act fast by pushing him to the ground. We were ready to take the bullets on his behalf. He was initially resistant and wanted to look at the policemen but we eventually subdued him,” recalls Otura.
But in a short while, Mr Odinga went on to resign from Ford Kenya, a move that opened his long history in Kenyan politics. He easily retained Lang'ata seat on his NDP.
In 1997, he vied for presidency, emerging third. Wamalwa' was forth in the polls. The two would later unite in 2002 and Narc coalition with Mwai Kibaki as flag bearer.
While Wamalwa died shortly after victory which saw him become Vice President, Raila's political star has shone since then, claiming victories in three polls.
Although he has never managed to get to State House, pundits argue that he's one of most polished politicians ever to be seen in Kenya.
Gideon Ochanda says it was through God’s grace that Thika did not turn into a blood bath. Hundreds would have died because police were using live and rubber bullets, the MP said.
“Chaos started because of the delegates lists. I was the one holding and verifying the lists which were disputed by both sides. Then hell broke loose. There was gunfire and everyone went down on their bellies. The police later rescued me and Archbishop Kuria,” remembers Ochanda.
He says there was confusion a day before the Thika event following reports that Raila had organised a parallel election at the City Stadium.
“Raila and his team were headed for City Stadium but shifted to Thika at the eleventh hour after realising it was the gazetted venue,” recalls Ochanda. He says the events at Thika that day shaped Raila’s political destiny.