Maurice Ogeta, Raila Odinga’s longtime aide and bodyguard, has recalled how a routine morning walk in Kerala, India, on October 15, 2025, turned into the former prime minister’s final medical emergency.

In an interview with NTV, Ogeta said he was walking behind Odinga at a wellness facility where Odinga was receiving treatment. They were walking a circuit around the villa grounds and had completed the first lap when Odinga suddenly stopped during the second.

“He was so much in good moods,” Ogeta said, recalling their conversation as they walked.

Ogeta said he asked Odinga what was wrong and whether he was experiencing pain in his back or leg. Odinga did not answer. When Ogeta offered to help, Odinga turned his head and reached out his hand.

“I asked the question again and I said, 'let's go there I check on you'. He just did this (turns his head to the right) and gave me his hand,” he said.

Ogeta tried to support him, but said Odinga could no longer walk and leaned against him.

“By the time I was trying to hold his hand so that we could walk, I realized he had lost control of his body,” Ogeta said.

He said he lowered Odinga to the ground, placed him in the recovery position and called for help. Health workers arranged an ambulance to take him to Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam, where he died aged 80. Odinga had been receiving treatment at Sreedhareeyam Eye Hospital, an Ayurvedic facility in Kerala.

Odinga served as Kenya’s prime minister from 2008 to 2013 and remained a central figure in national politics for decades. A longtime opposition leader, he was a key participant in the country’s reform movement and the 2010 constitutional process. He also served as Lang’ata MP from 1992 to 2013.

He was buried on October 19, 2025, at Kang’o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, beside his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice-president.

President William Ruto unveiled the Raila Amolo Odinga Mausoleum at the family homestead on October 7, 2026, in a ceremony attended by members of the Odinga family, government officials and other notables.

The family and memorial committee are preparing events for the first anniversary of Odinga’s death on October 15. The announced programme includes a candle-lighting at Kang’o ka Jaramogi on October 14 and a public celebration at Migwena Cultural and Sports Ground in Bondo the following morning.