NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 25 \u2013 Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that five months after the death of Raila Odinga, he is still waiting for an invitation from the family to travel to Bondo and pay his respects.<\/p>\n
Speaking during an interview on Ramogi TV on Wednesday, Gachagua said he had already reached out to Raila\u2019s widow Ida Odinga, expressing his condolences and formally requesting to visit the family home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called Mama Ida Odinga and gave my personal condolences together with Pastor Dorcas. We requested to go to Bondo, but she told us things were still heavy and she would respond at the appropriate time. We are still waiting,\u201d Gachagua said.<\/p>\n
He insisted that out of respect, he cannot visit the home without an invitation. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot go to someone\u2019s home unless the owner invites us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Gachagua also revealed that he had initially planned to attend the funeral events, including a ceremony at Nyayo National Stadium, but backed off after receiving intelligence reports of planned attacks.<\/p>\n
According to him, there were schemes to use violence against him to spark tension between the Kikuyu and Luo communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got information that goons had been arranged to attack me so as to create conflict between the Luo nation and the Kikuyu nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He claimed similar threats were present in Bondo, forcing him to cancel his trip despite being ready to travel with elders.<\/p>\n
The DCP Party Leader said he deliberately stayed away to avoid turning a solemn moment into political chaos.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized it was a very important occasion for Raila\u2019s family. It would have been wrong for me to appear as if I brought chaos,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Gachagua dismissed any suggestion that he has a problem with the Luo community, recalling the warm reception he received during past visits to Nyanza alongside President William Ruto.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Luo nation welcomed me like a king. They have nothing against me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Gachagua pushed back against criticism over past remarks that were interpreted as celebrating Raila\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not celebrating. That is your own interpretation,\u201d he said, explaining that his comments were about the changing nature of life and politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife is dynamic. What was yesterday is not what is today, and not what will be tomorrow,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Gachagua maintained that his intentions remain respectful, saying he is ready to visit Bondo once the family gives the green light.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was ready with my elders and everyone. We are just waiting for the family to tell us to come,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 25 \u2013 Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that five months after the death of Raila Odinga, he is still waiting for an invitation from the family to travel to Bondo and pay his respects. Speaking during an interview on Ramogi TV on Wednesday, Gachagua said he had already reached out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}