{"id":160338,"date":"2026-04-14T16:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T16:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death"},"modified":"2026-04-14T16:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T16:47:51","slug":"ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","title":{"rendered":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila’s Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n

Ida Odinga, Kenya’s Ambassador to the UN Environment Programme, has addressed her absence from political engagements following the death of her husband, Raila Odinga. She emphasized that her silence was a personal choice during her mourning period and clarified her non-political stance, despite her family’s political connections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Africa-Press – Kenya. <\/strong> <\/span>The Kenyan Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme Ida Odinga has broken her silence on her absence from recent political engagements.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Ida said she had been in mourning following the loss of her husband, Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n

Ida said her decision to stay away from political activities was deliberate and deeply personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as we said, I have been silent for some time. When I lost my husband, Honourable Raila Odinga, I was still in the state of mourning, which was very important to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that her grieving period made it impossible for her to engage in the political conversations that had been ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, I was not able to come out and participate in any political arrangement that you people are talking about,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Ida also sought to clarify her position in the political space, distancing herself from active politics despite being surrounded by political figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I am not a politician. My husband was, my daughter is; my brother-in-law is also a politician; people around me are, but I am an industrialist and not a politician,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her remarks come amid heightened political activity and speculation over alignments, with her absence having drawn attention in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Other than the late Raila Odinga, Ida\u2019s close relatives in the political arena include her last-born daughter, Winnie Odinga, who serves as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly, and Raila\u2019s elder brother, Oburu Oginga, who succeeded the former Prime Minister as ODM party leader.<\/p>\n

Her sister-in-law, Ruth Odinga, is the Kisumu Woman Representative and also sits in the ODM National Executive Council (NEC).<\/p>\n

It had been widely expected that Ida would influence succession within ODM, but she has maintained a consistent silence\u2014even after Winnie publicly declared her interest in the party leadership currently held by her uncle.<\/p>\n

President William Ruto formally appointed Ida as Kenya\u2019s Ambassador and Permanent Representative in the Foreign Service following approval by the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

In a gazette notice dated February 27, 2026, the Head of State invoked Article 132(2)(e) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Her nomination had earlier been approved on February 24 by the National Assembly\u2019s Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations after a vetting process in Parliament.<\/p>\n

Ida appeared before the committee on February 20, where she outlined her priorities and vision for Kenya\u2019s engagement with the global environmental body.<\/p>\n

Ida Odinga has been a prominent figure in Kenya, particularly through her marriage to Raila Odinga, a key political leader. Raila’s passing has left a significant impact on the political landscape, with many speculating about the future of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and potential leadership changes. Ida’s recent statements highlight the personal toll of political life and the complexities of navigating public expectations during times of grief. Her role as an ambassador also underscores the intersection of personal and political identities in Kenya’s evolving political scene.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Kenya<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What You Need to Know Ida Odinga, Kenya’s Ambassador to the UN Environment Programme, has addressed her absence from political engagements following the death of her husband, Raila Odinga. She emphasized that her silence was a personal choice during her mourning period and clarified her non-political stance, despite her family’s political connections. Africa-Press – Kenya. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":160337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[1183,544,15930,15931,242],"class_list":["post-160338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-ida-odinga","tag-kenya","tag-mourning","tag-political-silence","tag-raila-odinga"],"yoast_head":"\nIda Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1257\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"589\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila’s Death\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\"},\"wordCount\":571,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ida Odinga\",\"Kenya\",\"mourning\",\"political silence\",\"Raila Odinga\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\",\"name\":\"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg\",\"width\":1257,\"height\":589,\"caption\":\"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila’s Death\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/\",\"name\":\"kenya\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death - kenya","description":"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death","og_description":"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","og_site_name":"kenya","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1257,"height":589,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila’s Death","datePublished":"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death"},"wordCount":571,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg","keywords":["Ida Odinga","Kenya","mourning","political silence","Raila Odinga"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death","name":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death - kenya","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-14T16:10:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-14T16:47:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Ida Odinga shares her reasons for political silence after the death of her husband, Raila Odinga, emphasizing her mourning.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776184939.1747.jpg","width":1257,"height":589,"caption":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila's Death"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/ida-odinga-explains-silence-following-railas-death#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ida Odinga Explains Silence Following Raila’s Death"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/","name":"kenya","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160349,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160338\/revisions\/160349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}