There were stark differences in the manner in which former Prime Minister Raila Odinga mourned the second President of Kenya Daniel arap Moi and how the first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga did to first President Jomo Kenyatta.
In 1978, Jaramogi was among the dignitaries accorded the rare gesture to see off the late President Jomo Kenyatta who died in Mombasa State House.
The former VP-then KPU party leader astonished mourners when he pulled out his whisk and broke down into a traditional chant that even his tribesmen in the room could not decipher.
However, some similarities were sticking out like a sore thumb in the rituals conducted by the doyen of Opposition politicks and his late father.
First, Jaramogi fell out with President Jomo Kenyatta in 1966 in what appears to be political turf wars after independence.
Similarly, Raila would also have his fair share of run-ins with the late President Daniel Moi under whose orders the ODM party leader was incarcerated for nine years.
Monday, February 10, 2020, the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga walked into Parliament with a whisk to mourn former President Moi.
Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga pays his last respects to Mzee Moi.#MoiFinalJourney #RIPMoi pic.twitter.com/KEr5L4oSVn
— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) February 10, 2020
While his whispers were muffled by a song playing in the room, Raila must have accorded President his last respects as the body proceeds to Kabarak for interment.
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