{"id":141228,"date":"2026-05-16T12:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ida-hits-back-at-mbadi-over-post-raila-era-comments\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:02:49","slug":"ida-hits-back-at-mbadi-over-post-raila-era-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/ida-hits-back-at-mbadi-over-post-raila-era-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"Ida Hits Back at Mbadi Over \u2018Post-Raila Era\u2019 Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 \u2013 Seven months after the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, his widow, Ida Odinga, has strongly defended his enduring political influence, in remarks widely interpreted as a response to recent comments by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking on Friday during a visit by students from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology to Kang\u2019o Ka Jaramogi in Siaya County, Ida said Raila\u2019s legacy remains deeply embedded in Kenya\u2019s political and social fabric despite his passing.<\/p>\n

In a reflective and emotionally charged address, she noted that the late ODM leader continues to dominate public discourse and national debate on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is hardly a day I turn on the news and fail to hear Raila\u2019s name being mentioned,\u201d Ida said, adding that his ideals and political influence continue to resonate across the country.<\/p>\n

She invoked literary and philosophical references to illustrate her point, citing playwright William Shakespeare and celebrated African theologian John Mbiti.<\/p>\n

Drawing from Mbiti\u2019s concept of the \u201cliving dead,\u201d Ida argued that transformational leaders never truly fade away as long as their memory and impact remain alive among the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Professor Mbiti speaks about the living dead, I believe he refers to leaders like Raila, Jaramogi and others whose physical presence may be gone, but whose spirit continues to live among us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

She further suggested that some politicians had prematurely assumed that Raila\u2019s absence created political freedom for them, insisting that history and legacy outlive individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people become overly excited thinking that once a leader is gone, they are now free. But history remains. The lessons and values these leaders left behind continue guiding society,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Her remarks come days after Mbadi stirred political debate with comments suggesting that the Orange Democratic Movement should move beyond Raila\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n

Speaking during ODM retreat in Mombasa,Mbadi argued that ODM was not a family outfit and cautioned against individuals using their association with Raila to exert authority within the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the post-Raila era. Baba is gone, and we must now focus on building ourselves and the future of the party,\u201d Mbadi said in remarks that triggered mixed reactions.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 \u2013 Seven months after the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, his widow, Ida Odinga, has strongly defended his enduring political influence, in remarks widely interpreted as a response to recent comments by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi. Speaking on Friday during a visit by students from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga […]<\/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-141228","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\/141228","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=141228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}