{"id":3111,"date":"2022-11-14T16:33:17","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T16:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countysplash.co.ke\/?p=3111"},"modified":"2022-11-14T16:33:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T16:33:17","slug":"raila-how-i-escaped-an-assassination-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=3111","title":{"rendered":"Raila: How I escaped an assassination attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cSomeone attacked me attacked in front of my house which led to my admission to Nairobi Hospital. It\u2019s while receiving treatment that someone was after my life,\u201d <\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Doreen Anne Sitati and Fidel Mbaraka, Kakamega<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raila Odinga is loved and loathed in equal measure. He\nhas fought many battles spanning three decades in the struggle for the second\nliberation during the oppressive Kanu regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raila was a fierce critic of the late former President\nDaniel Arap Moi who ruled with an iron fist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government officials were unhappy with Raila\u2019s activities\nwanted him dead on grounds that he was a threat to national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Raila Odinga<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Raila got wind of the plan and was whisked out the\ncountry by the Catholic Church to Norway through Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a tet-a-tet interview, Raila narrates how he\nescaped from the country to Norway when it became apparently clear that his\nlife was in danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomeone attacked me attacked in front of my house\nwhich led to my admission to Nairobi Hospital. It\u2019s while receiving treatment\nthat someone was after my life,\u201d said Raila <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat evening, I was transferred to Rang\u2019ala Catholic Mission in Ugenya. No one knew I was around. Later in the evening, i was taken to a deserted beach in Bondo, Sirongo Beach, from there we boarded a paddled a boat to Ndende Island,\u201d said Raila <\/code><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Azimio la Umoja leader tells of a harrowing\nexperience of how he was evacuated through the grace of the Catholic church by\nFather Mark Opiyo and Sister Dian who was from the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Father had a collar on and the sister was\ndressed in white, he was also given another collar and after putting on, his\nname changed to Father Augustine from Machakos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat evening, I was transferred to Rang\u2019ala Catholic Mission in Ugenya. No one knew I was around. Later in the evening, i was taken to a deserted beach in Bondo, Sirongo Beach, from there we boarded a paddled a boat to Ndende Island,\u201d said Raila<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Raila Odinga<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 It’s from there\nthat he came across Robert Njura, a teenager who saved his life in 1991. The\nlate Hezron Orori was the one who made arrangements for that mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raila said that he met some Ugandans businessmen who had\ncome to Kenya to bring timber and going back with manufactured products like\nmattresses, sugar and clothes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These men were not only businessmen but they also had a\nhuman heart. They gave Raila and the others a ride on their boat. Since it was at\nthe night, they used the moon and stars light to navigate through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 They sailed and\npassed the Marketers Island. They reached Ugandan waters and rain started pouring.\nIn the boat there was a lady who was unwell, from the kindness of his heart,\nRaila took off his jacket and covered the sick lady. They spent the night in\nthe island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was an inspection at the entrance of Owen Falls Bridge and everyone was being asked for his identification documents. I had also tax certificates that showed I had paid my taxes for the last three years. We were allowed to proceed to Kampala and was welcomed by my longterm friend, Shem Luanga,\u201d said Raila <\/code><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The following morning, these men helped Raila get his\npapers and later in the afternoon they resumed their journey and at this moment,\nhe was travelling as Joseph Ojiwa Wadea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on lake it started to rain again, so they were\nforced to go into another island and there they found one man who was living\nalone with his family. This guy was a Kenyan and a relative of the late Robert\nOuko<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis man was so kind to us. He gave us shelter\ndespite being strangers. After the heavy downpour, we continued with our\njourney,\u201d said Raila. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
RAILA ODINGA<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They docked at a shore which was next to Ugandan town,\nIganga. Since they arrived there at 2am in the morning, they were forced to\nspend the night there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following morning, they went to Iganga and took a taxi\nand drove up to Jinja where they took another taxi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was an inspection at the entrance of Owen Falls\nBridge and everyone was being asked for his identification documents. I had also\ntax certificates that showed I had paid my taxes for the last three years. We\nwere allowed to proceed to Kampala and was welcomed by my longterm friend, Shem\nLuanga,\u201d said Raila<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he spent some time in Uganda whilst being registered\nwith the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),\nsaying he they managed to find him a country of adaptation and through the aid\nof a good Samaritan, he was able to get an air ticket to travel to Norway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
ODM leader Raila Odinga<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 The search for\nthis man did not stop there. They continued to look for him again in Uganda,\nthis forced him to be camouflaged again and he departed as a Ugandan Muslim,\ndressed in a kanzu and went by the name Hajir Omar. That\u2019s how he boarded the\nplan from Entebbe to Amsterdam then enroute to Norway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his arrival in Norway, he was adapted there and\ngiven an office by the Norwegian government for handling the Forum for\nRestoration of Democracy (Ford) external offices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raila became the voice of reason for the FORD leaders\nthat remained in Kenya through a series of interviews in BBC and Voice of\nAmerica trying to seek international support to restore democracy in Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Raila drew the\ninternational attention on what was happening in Kenya and was able to mobilize\na lot of support for the struggle towards second liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

End<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSomeone attacked me attacked in front of my house which led to my admission to Nairobi Hospital. It\u2019s while receiving treatment that someone was after my life,\u201d By Doreen Anne Sitati and Fidel Mbaraka, Kakamega Raila Odinga is loved and loathed in equal measure. He has fought many battles spanning three decades in the struggle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRaila: How I escaped an assassination attempt - Horizon News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=3111\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raila: How I escaped an assassination attempt - Horizon News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cSomeone attacked me attacked in front of my house which led to my admission to Nairobi Hospital. It\u2019s while receiving treatment that someone was after my life,\u201d By Doreen Anne Sitati and Fidel Mbaraka, Kakamega Raila Odinga is loved and loathed in equal measure. 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