Maurice Ogeta with the late former Prime Minister Raila/SCREENGRABMaurice Ogeta, the longtime bodyguard of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has revealed how his role in the opposition leader’s security team extended beyond protection.
In an interview with Citizen TV, Ogeta said he found himself carrying other duties as a personal assistant, nurse and driver.
He said the trust Raila and his family placed in him saw him take on multiple responsibilities, becoming one of the people the former Prime Minister relied on both during his political engagements and in private moments.
“I was his bodyguard, but the family trusted and overtrusted me to the point where I could perform the duties of a PA, a nurse, and a driver,” Ogeta said.
He recalled how Raila’s wife, Ida Odinga, would allow him to drive her husband even in the middle of the night, with a simple instruction to ensure his safety wherever they went.
“This is somebody who even Mama Ida could release and allow me to drive in the middle of the night. The only thing she would say: ‘Ogeta, take care of Jakom, make sure you are safe wherever you are going,’” he recounted.
Ogeta said his relationship with Raila went beyond official security assignments, with the two travelling extensively together across the country.
“We have gone places, and that does not mean overseas or international, even locally,” he said, reflecting on the years he spent accompanying the former Prime Minister.
His account also shed light on the tense moments surrounding Raila’s political activities, particularly during protests when security concerns heightened and rumours circulated about possible raids on his residence.
Ogeta recalled that even when other members of Raila’s team were released and allowed to go home amid the tension, the former Prime Minister would ask him to remain close and return when needed.
“At the peak of things during protests, when rumours swirled that they were coming to (Raila's home), they were coming to ransack the house, it got to a point that everybody else had been released and told to go home, but he would tell me you go and come back,” Ogeta said.
His recollections offer a glimpse into the close working relationship he developed with Raila over many years, placing him among the trusted members of the former Prime Minister’s inner circle.
The revelations add to accounts from people who worked closely with Raila, offering a perspective on the personal relationships and behind-the-scenes arrangements that supported his public and political life.
