- Maurice Ogeta, Raila Odinga's longtime personal bodyguard, opened up about the former PM's final moments in India nearly a year after his death
- Ogeta described watching Raila collapse during a morning walk and being rushed to Devamatha Hospital in Kerala with no detectable pulse
- A Bible, candles and a piece of cloth arranged near the resuscitation area gave Ogeta a haunting suspicion before anyone had said a word
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Nearly a year after Raila Odinga's death, the man who was closest to him in his final moments has broken his silence.
Source: Facebook
Maurice Ogeta, Raila's longtime personal bodyguard, sat down with KTN News to recount what he witnessed at a Kerala hospital on October 15, 2025, the day the former prime minister passed away aged 80.
How Maurice Ogeta realised Raila had died
Ogeta described a morning that began like any other. Raila had set out for his routine therapeutic walk at the villa where they were staying, intending to complete five rounds of a 50-metre track.
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He had barely finished one and a quarter rounds when he suddenly stopped and appeared dazed. Ogeta, walking just a metre behind him, noticed his charge gradually losing control of his body.
"I rushed to ask whether Raila was experiencing back or leg pain," Ogeta said, adding that he offered to guide him to a nearby chair.
Raila looked blankly at him and uttered the sound "Aii" or "Eih" before going limp in Ogeta's hands and on his shoulders.
An ambulance rushed Raila to Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam, where doctors found no detectable pulse or blood pressure. Medical staff attempted resuscitation and CPR, but the efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.
What stood out in Ogeta's account was how he pieced together the truth before anyone said a word.
He noticed hospital staff setting up a stand and placing a Bible on it, lighting candles, and arranging a cloth nearby. A priest arrived shortly after and began to pray.
"By the time they brought the electric shock machine, I was like, 'No!' Within a very short time, I saw a place being prepared. They brought a stand, placed a Bible on top, lit candles, and then I saw a certain cloth. I asked, 'Doc, are you sure we are okay? What is this cloth for?'" Ogeta recounted.
He said staff told him it was a mission hospital tradition to pray while treating patients.
His colleague, Dr Olunya, was also growing uneasy and began enquiring whether the hospital had a counselling room. Ogeta said he understood immediately what that meant.
"I told Dr Olunya, 'If it has happened, there is nothing like a counselling room. I know these people,'" he said, adding that he insisted on going directly to inform Raila's daughters rather than waiting for a formal counselling session.
Before he left to find them, he noticed the medical team beginning to remove the machines. That, he said, confirmed everything.
Watch the interview below:
Was the viral video of Raila walking from India true?
Ogeta also addressed a widely circulated video showing Raila walking through a hospital corridor in a white robe.
He disputed claims that the footage was filmed in India shortly before his death, clarifying that it came from an earlier period during Raila's recovery following surgery in Dubai, not from his final days in Kerala.
Source: TUKO.co.ke