The 1966 enmity between former friends founding father Jomo Kenyatta and his Vice Jaramogi Oginga Odinga cost almost everyone in the Oginga family, starting from himself to his children.
The two turned into the worst of enemies when they parted ways, Oginga ending up the biggest victim, and suffered under the powerful hands of his former boss who remained in power.
But the same would later move to his kids when he was later placed under house arrest to limit his political activities, one of the next victims being his young daughter Ruth Odinga.
What landed on Ruth was a series of humiliating and harassing treatment, including regular searches, some of which were done after the then Victoria Primary School pupil was stripped naked.
“When my father was under house arrest and I was then a pupil at Victoria Primary School in Kisumu, I used to be taken to Central Police Station for inspection, where I was forced to undress before being inspected, then I would be asked to dress again after which I would get clearance to go to school,” recounts Ruth in a Standard publication dated March, 29, 2017.
This went on as the relationship between the Oginga and Kenyatta families worsened, with the troubles going even further when Daniel Moi took over after Kenyatta’s death in 1978.
This would see both Jaramogi and his second-born son and current opposition leader Raila Odinga detained over the 1982 attempted coup.
Ruth would later become the Kisumu Deputy Governor, a position she left after the 2017 general elections.
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