Former Prime Minister Raila with his bodyguard Maurice Ogetta /HANDOUTFormer Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s longtime bodyguard, Maurice Ogetta, has recounted a terrifying incident in which he feared his boss had been killed during anti-government protests in Nairobi.
Speaking in an interview with KTN TV, Ogetta recalled the 2023 demonstrations in Pipeline, Embakasi, where Raila’s convoy was trapped amid confrontations involving police officers and protesters.
Ogetta said the situation became increasingly dangerous as officers approached Raila’s vehicle and gunshots were fired at the car.
“There was a video that went viral of an officer coming to the windscreen of my boss’s car… that windscreen was hit so many times to a point where it gave in and cracked. After cracking, so many shots were fired in that car,” Ogetta recalled.
He said he feared for his life and that of the former opposition leader as the security team struggled to escape the scene.
“At that point, it registered, and my blood registered that, okay, we are dying anyway,” he said, describing the moment as one of the most frightening experiences he had encountered while protecting Raila.
According to Ogetta, the security team pushed Raila down inside the vehicle and used their bodies to shield him from the gunfire.
“We tried using anything that we could find in that car to cover him up down there,” he said.
The situation was so intense that a security officer in the lead vehicle reportedly believed Raila had been killed.
“I heard one of our officers, who was in charge of security in the front car, say over the walkie-talkie that they had killed Mzee,” Ogetta recounted.
However, Ogetta said he responded by reassuring the officer that Raila was still alive as they attempted to find a way out.
He attributed their survival to divine intervention and the efforts of the security team, describing the experience as a moment that remained deeply etched in his memory.
Raila died in India on October 15, 2025, while undergoing medical treatment.
