- Macharia said he had supported Raila throughout his political journey.
Royal Media Services (RMS) Chairman Dr SK Macharia has described the late former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga as a committed democrat and a great Kenyan who remained close to him and his family for decades.
Speaking during Raila’s memorial on October 15, 2026, at Migwena grounds, Siaya County, Dr Macharia said he had supported Raila throughout his political journey.
“What this family feels about the loss, I and my family equally lost a great friend, a great Kenyan and a president that Kenya needed but never had,” Dr Macharia said.
Dr Macharia also recalled the support Raila and Oburu extended to him following Raila’s defeat in the 2022 presidential election.
He said the two brothers visited his home to comfort him, an experience he cited as evidence of Raila’s character and concern for others.
“In the 2022 election, when Raila did not make it, Raila and his brother Oburu came to my house to cool me down. It is not me who went to Raila. It is he and his brother who came to my house,” he said.
Dr Macharia traced his relationship with the Odinga family to his first meeting with Raila’s father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, during a visit to Kisumu General Hospital alongside former president Jomo Kenyatta.
“I saw a man committed to this country,” Macharia said, recalling his first encounter with Jaramogi.
He said Jaramogi later entrusted him with the responsibility of looking after his sons, Raila and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga, should anything happen to him.
“Jaramogi told me he has two sons. Oburu and Raila Odinga, and I am older than them. In case he doesn’t live long, I take care of them,” Dr Macharia recalled.
He said the commitment had informed his long-standing relationship with Raila, Oburu and their families.
Macharia also recounted how he continued supporting Raila despite their political setbacks, saying he had stood with him until his final days.
“You can imagine for a man of my calibre in the last election providing Raila the helicopter, a pilot and all the fuel to do the campaign at my cost,” he said.
The RMS chairman further revealed that he had spoken to Raila just two days before his death, when the former prime minister assured him that he was well and planned to return to Nairobi within two or three days.
Dr Macharia said their last conversation followed a request by Raila for him to travel to Siaya to support Oburu at a function involving the County Government.
“He told me that he is ready to come back to Nairobi in the next two or three days. He has finished the mission that he had gone to and is well,” Dr Macharia said.
He described Raila’s death as a shock, given their recent conversation and the assurance that he was recovering well.
Dr Macharia said the gesture reinforced his admiration for Raila, whom he described as a leader committed to democracy and the country’s interests.
He concluded by saying Raila’s death was a personal loss to him and his family, who had considered the former prime minister a close friend.