President William Ruto for the first time yesterday opened up on the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s health struggles in the last two months before his death last Wednesday. The President also revealed the frantic calls from Mr Odinga’s family on the morning he died in India.
Dr Ruto said it was Mr Odinga’s elder Brother, Dr Oburu Oginga, who first informed him through a Whatsapp text that he was critically ill.
The text came at 6.45am last Wednesday. Dr Oburu would later after 10 minutes called again to tell the President that ‘it appears we have lost Baba.’ The information was confirmed to the President by Mr Odinga’s daughter, Winnie, who was with him in India.
‘He called many people assuring them that he was well. We were planning to attend the Siaya Trade conference on Thursday. At 6.45am on Wednesday Oburu texted me on Whatsapp that my brother was critically ill,’ President Ruto said.
‘I told him, but we spoke to Baba and he told us he was okay. I called some people who could not tell me Raila’ status. 10 minutes later, Oburu called and informed me that it appears that we have lost Baba,’ President Ruto said.
The President revealed Mr Odinga’s health struggles in the last one month. He said Raila was in and out of hospital for medical attention.
He, however, did not disclose what he was being treated for.
‘The last one month was a difficult moment, his voice was horse, and he was weak because he was taking some medicine. His health was very concerning to me. He said he had been to Dubai for treatment,’ Mr Ruto said.
He added that they had planned to meet but that did not happen after Mr Odinga’s doctors advised that he should take some rest in Malindi. When he came back from Malindi, Dr Ruto said, he wanted to come see him at State House, but he told him since he was not feeling well, he would go see him at his Karen home.
The President said they had dinner where Mr Odinga briefed him on his health status.
‘I told him the that the government would cover his medical expenses wherever he went, whether to the US, China or India. We told him, we don’t want guess work. We facilitated everything that Raila wanted,’ he told thousands of mourners who turned up at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Technology.
The President also explained how he had difficult time talking to Winnie about hastening the funeral arrangement to meet the 72-hour will by Mr Odinga.
‘I have discharged my responsibility to a brother, a friend and mentor. I thank his security details for standing with him always. I remember during our ODM days, Raila’s bodyguard, Maurice Ogeta, used to wipe our shoes when we came from campaigns,’ he said.
The revelation by the President corroborates the accounts by the Indian doctors on the day Mr Odinga died. As Kenyans were preparing to report to their work places on Wednesday morning, the Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, Southern India was a buzz with urgency. Mr Odinga, Kenya’s former prime minister, had just been wheeled into the facility after suffering a cardiac arrest during a morning walk at about 8.30 am (6am Kenyan time).
By his side were his personal doctor and security personnel Maurice Ogeta. The two had just administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). ‘Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga was brought to our casualty emergency wing with a history of sudden collapse during his morning walk,’ a cardiologist, only identified as Dr Alphons said.
‘They had already started CPR. His doctor and security personnel were with him. We continued CPR and performed emergency intubation – inserting a tube into the respiratory system – and continued CPR along with other resuscitative measures,’ she said.
She explained, ‘After stabilising him with IV fluids, we administered an injection to dissolve any possible clot in the coronary arteries.’
At ICU
When in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the medics in the room momentarily detected a heart rhythm. The beeping then faltered, followed by heartbeat flat line on the screen. Mr Odinga had breathed his last some minutes before 10am. The medics also observed swelling in his lower right leg.
His personal physician informed them that he had a history of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease. He had previously been treated for deep vein thrombosis. He had an inferior ven cav filtered inserted in the vein. ‘Recently, he had a thin subdural hematoma, which was detected last Saturday,’ the cardiologist said.