Ida Odinga reveals how Martha Koome stood by her during Raila’s detention years
By Paulette Mboga, November 2, 2025Ida Odinga has shared a moving story of how Chief Justice Martha Koome stood by her family and fought for justice during one of their most difficult times in the 1980s, when Raila Odinga was in detention.
Speaking while reflecting on their long friendship in Bondo on Saturday, November 1, 2025, Ida recalled how she first met a young Martha Koome in 1988, shortly after she had been dismissed from her teaching job.
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“Let me tell you a short story about her. In September of 1988, after I had been sacked from being a teacher, where I taught Justice Njoki Ndungu. 1988 was about six years after Raila had been in detention and had been released, and then six months later, he was put back in detention,” she said.
Ida explained that she was desperate for legal support and had visited several law offices looking for help before she was advised to see Koome.
“Someone called me from England and told me to go to the office of Advocate Shamala. And there we get lawyers who can now defend you. By that time, I had walked into all the offices of prominent lawyers,” she recalled.
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Young lawyer
Ida said it was during that search that she met a young lawyer who would later make history.
“So when I went there, I talked to Mr Shamala, and he told me, ‘Go see Martha Koome.’ I went to the office, and I met this young girl, and I asked the young girl, ‘Please, can I see Martha Koome?’ and she told me, ‘I am Martha Koome…’ What could this young girl do for me? Then I decided to let me just talk to her,” she said.
What happened next, Ida said, changed everything.
“But what she did from that time moved the world. Because she mobilised many other lawyers. The following day, when we went to court to see if Raila could be released or not…and from that time she became my lawyer. We started the journey with her,” she narrated.
Ida said she was not surprised that Koome went on to rise through the ranks to become Kenya’s Chief Justice, saying her commitment and courage were clear even in her early years. “I am not surprised that she finally became the Chief Justice,” she said.