Raila Odinga’s longtime bodyguard, Maurice Ogeta, has given an emotional account of the former Prime Minister’s last moments in India. In a televised interview, he described what he saw as the veteran leader’s life ended abroad.
Speaking on KTN News, Ogeta recalled the morning of October 15 at an Ayurvedic facility in Kerala, where Raila Odinga was undergoing treatment.
The two had begun their usual daily exercise, walking a 50-metre loop around the villa grounds. Raila had aimed to complete five laps.
A sudden stop
Raila completed the first lap without trouble. Halfway through the second, he stopped walking.
Ogeta, standing about a metre away, heard a faint murmur that sounded like “Aai” or “Aih”. He now believes it was Raila’s last word.
He asked whether his back or leg was hurting. Raila did not answer. His eyes seemed fixed on something far away. Moments later, his body gave way and he slumped against Ogeta.
“The patron died walking. He did not die in bed,” Ogeta said. “It was unfortunate because I was only about a metre away from him.”
Raila was taken by ambulance to hospital, a journey of five to ten minutes. Ogeta said the scenes inside left a lasting impression.
He watched doctors perform CPR forcefully and feared for Raila’s ribs. When he raised this with Dr Lumi, he was told that broken ribs are sometimes an accepted result of resuscitation.
A worrying sign
Ogeta said his mind raced as doctors worked on Raila, and the force of the CPR worried him.
“I had to ask Dr. Lumi, like, even if he gets back to himself, I think we’ll still admit him here because maybe some of the ribs will be broken,” he said.
His fears deepened when he saw a Bible, a candle and a piece of cloth being laid out near the resuscitation area.
“I see a bible, I see a candle, like no, I see a certain kitamba (cloth), then I’m like, Dr. look, are you sure we are okay?” he recalled.
Doctors at Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam confirmed that Raila arrived with no detectable pulse or blood pressure following a cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead on October 15, 2025, aged 80.
For Ogeta, the loss was personal. He wept as Raila’s body landed at JKIA the next day, and he remembers the former Prime Minister as a mentor, a friend and a father figure, not just a boss.
