[Raila Odinga in a past event. He disguised himself as priest to evade police crackdown in 90s. Photo/Nation]
After serving several detentions summing to a whooping nine years, ODM leader Raila Odinga had to camouflage as priest to escape dreaded Flying Squad enroute his exile to Oslo, Norway.
In his Quest for Nationhood autobiography, Odinga narrates how he disguised himself as a Priest to escape from Nairobi to Kampala via road.
“It was a delicate operation but we had to do it. I sat sandwiched between two nuns on a backseat and wore dark glasses pretending to read newspapers,” recalls Odinga, in an operation that was hatched by Archbishop Zacheus Okoth.
Earlier, plans to have him take refuge at United States’ embassy had backfired as President Daniel Moi demanded for his detention.
Impersonating as one Father Augustine of Machakos, Raila struggled to use church traditional sign language at Ukweli Pastoral Centre before using Lake Victoria as escape route to Kampala.
“I was booked as Father Augustine of Machakos at Ukweli Pastoral Centre but I struggled to use Catholic Church signs. However, I quickly copied Father Mac Opiyo,” he recalled.
With some foreign diplomats in Kampala aware of his plight, Odinga booked plane as one Haji Ismael before flying to Norway.
Few months later, a re-energized Odinga would return to the country as Kenya ushered in pluralism in 1992, a reward of a hard struggle against Moi’s iron fist rule.