The ugly incidents that took place at Fidel Odinga’s burial on Saturday were an embarrassment and downright disrespectful, Mrs. Ida Odinga has said. Denouncing the heckling of leaders at the burial site at Kango Ka Jaramogi on Sunday, Ida dissociated her family from them.

Ida said the views expressed by some leaders were not necessarily the views of her family. She however asked the leaders and mourners to pardon those involved.

Among those heckled were Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and her Defence counterpart Raychelle Omamo.

Omamo was reading a condolence message from President Uhuru Kenyatta when the crowd abused her and threw empty plastic bottles towards her.

Speaking at the same site, Raila Odinga, the habit was primitive and the youth were an embarrassment.

Speaking in dholuo, Mr Odinga said it was wrong for anyone to boo a person who had travelled from far to stand in solidarity with a bereaved family.

“In our culture, we believe whoever stands with you at a time of grief is your friend,” he told the mourners. “How do you turn around and boo such people and try to stop them from speaking?”

Among those heckled even as Mr Odinga gestured at the youths to calm down were Cabinet Secretaries Raychelle Omamo (Defence) and Charity Ngilu (Lands and Housing).

The youth threw plastic bottles at Ms Omamo, who withstood heavy heckling as she read a condolence message from President Kenyatta.

The Cord leader specifically condemned the booing of Ms Omamo, whom he described as a daughter of Bondo known very well to its residents.
She is the daughter of former minister William Odongo Omamo, who was once the MP for Bondo and Muhoroni.

“Uhuru was with me at home and in church to mourn Fidel. He deployed the entire State machinery to ensure Fidel gets a decent burial, then all you do is shout down his messenger. It is wrong!” said Mr Odinga. The conduct was a show of lack of respect among the youths, whom he said needed the help of those they shouted at, he added.

Fidel Odinga’s widow, Lwam Gatechew Bekele, for the first time described him in a moving tribute at his requiem mass at All Saints Cathedral on Thursday.

“My Love where do I even begin? You defied all preconceptions, you made me laugh without a reason,” she said.

An emotional Lwam moved the mourners to tears in a short letter to her love. She surrendered her future and that of her one-and-a-half-year-old son to God.

“The living God who gave you to me will be there for us,” she said. Ida Odinga, Fidel’s mother, reassured Lwam in her own moving tribute.

“He has left a wife and that is our daughter and we will love you Lwam, you are an Odinga,” Ida said. She told mourners how at 18 Fidel said he wanted to go to a nightclub for the first time.

“I told him one, to buy your own Soda. Two, girls are not toys, respect them,” she said. President Uhuru Kenyatta said Fidel Odinga was a man who held no grudges and did not associate himself with tribalism.

“In December, Fidel Odinga called me and he wanted us to meet and I agreed but unfortunately that never came to pass,” he said. He added that the cause of death will be determined. “To Lwam we are as open to you as we were to Fidel, we are your elder brothers,” Uhuru said.

His father, Raila Odinga, said Fidel Odinga was a young, humble and humorous man, whose names ‘Castro’ and ‘Odinga’ earned him both friends and enemies.

Deputy President William Ruto who was among the dignitaries at the mass described Fidel’s death as a big loss.

“Castro’s death is not only a loss to his family and friends but to the wider Kenyan family,” Ruto said. His sister Winnie said he was an intelligent, independent and good elder brother. Fidel Odinga’s uncle Oburu Odinga spoke on behalf of the family.

“If his death was as a result of human hand, that person really calculated and hit us below the belt,” he said.

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said Fidel Odinga stood for the good of the country. On behalf of his friends, Joe Nyaga said Fidel Odinga was a loving and true friend who taught them a lot about life.

“He taught us to live the life we love and love the life we live, life is short,” he said. Fidel will be buried in Bondo on Saturday. More than 10,000 mourners are expected.

Controversial businessman Paul Kobia has been admitted at Aga Khan hospital after running amok. Police say his family took him to Gigiri police station after he became violent at his Runda home. Sources say he kept saying ‘I killed Fidel’, claims police have dismissed.

Acting Inspector General of Police Samuel Arachi dismissed media reports claiming Kobia had been arrested. “Mr Paul Kobia was taken to Gigiri Police station by his family who wanted to be assisted in having him restrained and escorted to a psychiatrist after he started shouting incoherently and acting violently,” Arachi said in a statement.

Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko said Paul Kobia had claimed knowing how Fidel Odinga died.

Fidel died on Sunday morning at his Karen home. Pathologists are yet to release the cause of death.

Paul Kobia last year threatened Cord leader Raila Odinga and told him to respect President Uhuru Kenyatta’s reign.

The businessman with interests in gold is a licensed firearm holder who once attacked a business partner.

Ann Wanyoro was Tuesday charged in a Kiambu court with aiding a suicide. Ms Ann Wanyoro, who was arraigned before Kiambu chief magistrate John Oyiengo, was charged that on diverse dates between November 23 to 26 last year at Mokongeni in Thika, Kiambu county she helped Paul Magu to kill himself. She denied the charge and her lawyer Waithera Mwangi requested the court to release her on bail.

However, homicide officer Gilbert Kitalia, who is investigating the matter, in a sworn affidavit sought the court’s permission to continue holding Ann Wanyoro in custody, arguing that the suspect might interfere with investigations if released.
“There is a possibility that more suspects linked to the murder of the five family members and dumping of the body of Lydia Magu at Paradise Lost will be arrested and jointly charged with the first suspect,” Mr Kitalia said.

The officer also told the court that they have credible intelligence information that unknown people have been visiting the rural home of Ann Wanyoro in Mang’u and her residence at Makongeni in Thika and they may harm her.
He added that as the investigations continue, they are likely to prefer more charges on her, adding that the charges she is facing attract life imprisonment if she is found guilty so if released on bail she might run.

Kitalia informed the court that they discovered that Paul Magu had appointed someone to hold several properties in trust, some of which are yet to be traced and Ann Wanyoro has knowledge of where the properties are located and might interfere with the probe.

But her lawyer accused the police of laxity in their investigations as they have taken 39 days to conduct investigations while still holding Ann Wanyoro.
Waithera asked the officer to produce enough evidence there have been people at the suspect’s rural home and in her residence who are out to harm her, adding that the suspect will not run if she is released. The magistrate is set to make a ruling a today as to whether the suspect will be released on bail and supplied with charge sheet and witness statements.

Pathologists said an autopsy carried out on the body of Fidel Odinga on Tuesday was unable to determine what killed him.

The government and family pathologists said that the first rounds of tests were unsuccessful saying that they will embark on a second round of tests Fidel Odinga who was the eldest son of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga passed was found dead at his Karen home Sunday morning.

The inconclusive results after examination of the body of Fidel Odinga by government and family pathologists at Lee Funeral Home from 7.30am to7pm, when a briefing was made, will prolong the agony of family and friends.
The postmortem was done by Dr DorothyNjeru, the lead government pathologist, in collaboration with family pathologists Dr Emily Rogena and Dr Bessie Byakika. The Chief Government Pathologist Johannsen Oduor supervised the exercise.

“We carried out the postmortem in two parts: body examination and body dissection. However we were unable to come up with the cause of death. We will now proceed to laboratory analysis to try and analyse the samples collected and the process begins now. Once we conclude we will give a comprehensive report,” Dr Njeru explained.
Rogena added: “We are in complete agreement with my colleague that it was completely impossible to determine the cause of death. We undertook an examination of several samples collected.”

Rogena explained they had carried out toxicology and histology examinations but could not determine the cause of death. “We call this examination toxicology and histology in the scientific language. We have taken a number of samples to establish cause of death. As of now, we have agreed nothing tangible was found in the body of Fidel Odinga to explain cause of death,” added Dr Rogena.

Journalists had earlier on Tuesday camped at the Lee Funeral Home awaiting a verdict on the cause of death of Fidel Odinga, however, the results were not made public until the statement later in the evening.

At around 11 00 am, the sister to the former Prime Minister Ruth Odinga who is also the Deputy Governor of Kisumu County arrived at the Lee Funeral Home accompanied by some friends. She later left the venue after a few minutes.