Opposition leader Raila Odinga has narrated an inciodent at the Kamiti Maximu Prison when he intervened to save the life of Kenneth Matiba.
Speaking on Thursday during a memorial service for Matiba in Muranga, Raila said that the incident occured when both were detained in 1990 at Kamiti.
Odinga disclosed that when Matiba suffered a stroke at Kamiti Maximum Prison,the authorities denied him treatment.
He was therefore forced to secretly sent a message to Matiba’s wife, Edith, written in a toilet paper since they were attended to by the same doctors.
Raila said he would later establish a cordial relationship with a prison warden, whom he named Mwangi, and who would pass messages between them.
The opposition chief said that one day Mwangi disclosed to him that Mr. Matiba had fallen ill but for several days the doctors were claiming he was faking illness.
“Mwangi came and told me, ‘Mheshimiwa your friend is sick. These days he is very dull, he is not talking, he just says he is in pain. Doctors have examined him but they are saying he is pretending but they themselves believe he is sick,’” Odinga recounted.
“When I heard this, I used a toilet paper to write to Ida telling her to inform Edith that Ken is sick. That askari, a Kenyan patriot who is now retired, is the one who took that note to Ida and that is how Ida informed Edith that Ken is sick.”Odinga said.
He added that upon learning that Matiba's family knew about the sickness, the government acted by taking him to hospital under an alias.