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Emotional moment as Ida, Winnie and Rosemary Odinga visit Karua after father’s death
29th September, 2026 04:13 PM
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s family has visited Martha Karua following the death of her father, Mwalimu Jackson Karua.
Mama Ida Odinga, Winnie Odinga and Rosemary Odinga visited Karua as she continues to mourn her father, who died on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
Karua shared a message of appreciation following the visit, describing the meeting as a meaningful moment during a difficult period for her family.
“We had a beautiful visit from Mama Ida, Winnie and Rosemary Odinga,” Karua wrote on Tuesday, September 29,2026.
“The weight of losing someone who has been such a central part of your life is a grief we sadly share, but one that has also given us a deeper understanding of what it means to hold each other through loss.”
She said the relationship between the two families had endured through different seasons of life and remained a source of support during difficult moments.
“Through the years, we have shared many seasons of life and continue to hold bonds that carry us through the difficult moments too,” she added.
Karua thanked the three women for visiting and sharing in her grief.
“Thank you for coming to be with us and share in our grief,” she said.
Karua mourns her father
Karua announced the death of her father on Sunday after spending time with him earlier that day in Kirinyaga alongside her siblings.
She said the family sang his favourite Gospel hymn during the visit, unaware that it would be their final song together.
“My siblings and I spent time with him and sang his favourite gospel hymn, never knowing it would be our last song together,” Karua said.
She later received news of his death while travelling back to Nairobi.
“On my way back to Nairobi, I received the news that my beloved father had breathed his last,” she added.
Karua said she remained grateful for the opportunity to sit beside her father and spend those final moments with him.
“There is never really an age at which you are prepared to say goodbye to someone who has been part of your life from the very beginning,” she said.
A father’s support
Karua remembered her father as a teacher and principled man who valued education, character and doing what was right.
She said his support remained constant throughout her education, legal career and public life.
“My father believed in me long before I had achieved anything worth celebrating. From my school days, through my career in law, and through the many chapters of my public life,” she said.
“He remained one of my strongest supporters, always proud, always encouraging, and always in my corner.”
Karua described him as a loving, generous and dependable father whose values shaped the family.
She said his death was a profound loss to his children, grandchildren, wider family and the many people whose lives he touched.
“I will miss his voice, his counsel, his encouragement, and the quiet reassurance of knowing that he was there,” Karua said.
“To my father, thank you for believing in me, for standing beside me, and for loving me through every chapter of my life. I am deeply grateful to have been your daughter.”
She concluded her tribute with a message to her late father: “Huruka thayu, baba.”
“You will be deeply missed, dearly loved, and forever remembered,” she said.
