Winnie Odinga has opened up about a time when her late father, Raila, visited her school in the United States when he was still serving as the prime minister.
The EALA parliamentarian is the former prime minister’s lastborn child, and she closely worked with him in the 2022 general election. She was also in India with him, where he had gone to seek treatment before he collapsed on October 15, 2025 and died. What did Raila Odinga do at Winnie’s university? In a TBT interview that is now trending online, Winnie recalled the time her father’s visit left students on campus referring to her as an African princess.
“At the time he was the prime minister, I did not want anything to do with him, politics, and all these things. So I flew to America. This was the school that gave me a scholarship. So I get there, settle in, and everything is fine. Then, a month later, my parents came to see me. He is still the prime minister. The day before, secret service agents come to the dorm, they were checking it, just rubbish. The next day, he comes with his convoy, they see me and bounce,” she said.
According to Winnie, she was called to the office of the students’ leaders, who questioned her on why she never mentioned that her dad was a dignitary. “I was like, I thought you knew, it was not a secret. Then we go to college parties, and I am with some of my friends. Then this one American girl runs up and she goes to my friend, and says, ‘Oh my God, are you the African princess?’. That story had gone around that the convoy belonged to some African king,” she said.