When Nasa called a press conference after the announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory on August 12, opposition leader Raila Odinga sat in the shadows, his face black as thunder.
But the supporters waiting for ‘Joshua’ to tell them the next step, to show them the way to Canaan, would never have guessed that they were looking at a man weighed down by the expectations of millions and broken by the pains and sorrows of personal tragedy and loss. His running mate Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka knew. Like Raila, he too was gripped by the pain of nursing the woman he loves.
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And as they ran a cash-strapped campaign, depending on contributions from friends and supporters, insiders say the two men were fighting personal crippling financial troubles.
Indeed, the resilience and public show of strength by Raila and Kalonzo is unmatched. The two men smile for the cameras, dance and laugh with supporters, yet they probably can’t remember the last time they heard the sound of laughter in their homes. They give fiery speeches, yet once home, among their loved ones, they speak in hushed tones.
University of Nairobi sociologist Ken Ouko says that while paupers can strip naked and run through the streets in grief, leaders can’t do the same because they have to adapt to people’s expectations.
“Grief is characterised by headaches, fatigue, aching muscles, nausea, forgetfulness, lack of concentration, confusion and poor memory. Mentally, those grieving endure sadness, anger, disbelief, despair, guilt and loneliness. These affect everyone despite their status, but stronger people or public figures tend to hide these feelings which are only visible to close friends and associates. It affects both the powerful and lowly in society,” says Ouko
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He adds that some friends may avoid you because they don’t know what to say or how to help. You might also feel pressure to be strong for family or friends, or you may not feel like seeing anyone and at this stage, even a sworn enemy can become a friend.
A year after Fidel, Raila’s first born child, passed on, his mother Ida Odinga said there was nothing as bad and painful as watching one’s child die.
“The world came to a standstill and I just went blank. I sat there for a whole day hoping he would wake up, but that didn’t happen. The news hit each of my children very hard. Each of them was looking up to him, he was close to everyone in the family. Junior was badly affected. Each one of them is trying to see how they can fill the gap, but they are all badly affected,” she said.
Barely two years later, her daughter Rosemary Odinga suffered a stroke caused by a non-cancerous brain tumour and was treated locally before being airlifted for specialised treatment in South Africa.
According to sources close to the family, Rosemary’s illness has confined her indoors and knocked her mum and family matriarch, Ida, herself a politician of no mean feat, off the campaign trail to nurse her eldest daughter.
Her illness struck the family like a thunderbolt, ending the budding political career of a feisty, behind-the-scenes operative who was widely expected to step into her brother’s shoes and become the next Odinga after her father.
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No doubt, her extended stay in a South African hospital must also have dealt a terrible emotional and financial blow to the man the Kikuyu once referred to as njamba (cockerel) when he was Mwai Kibaki’s wingman in 2003.
Starved of pension by the Jubilee government, including health insurance that should be enjoyed by a former prime minister because “he has not retired from politics”, it’s anyone’s guess how he is meeting the cost of his daughter’s medication and care.
And much as he carries on like nothing is amiss, those who have observed him for years can’t fail to notice the fatigue and absence of fire and energy that characterised his political campaigns of yore.
Raila’s debacles are all too familiar to former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka, now 63 years old. On December 29, 2015, his wife of 32 years and mother to their four children, a woman who had been his friend for 13 years before he married her, was admitted at Nairobi Hospital. Doctors advised her to stay in hospital for further checks.
Doctors then said Pauline, who is a senior employee at the Central Bank of Kenya, was in a stable condition and was to be discharged after the tests. But soon after, she sought medical treatment abroad. The former vice president is often spotted at a specialised city clinic where his wife goes for check-ups, sitting quietly by her side without causing the sort of commotion associated with powerful people.
“Kalonzo is a strong man. His wife’s illness has really drained him. Sometimes he would be short-tempered, but he would apologise later, if he had snapped at someone. He keeps a brave face but he is deeply hurting on the inside,” says a source close to Kalonzo.
Juggling between running for the highest office in the land, taking care of a sick spouse and tending to four children for the past two years (the youngest still in university), has taken its toll on Kalonzo, both psychologically and financially.
“It has been extremely hard for him financially. You know Kalonzo has never stolen anything. He has never looted any money from the government, so he is paying the astronomical medical costs from his pocket,” says our source.
