Ruth Odinga: I’ve met Oketch Salah only 3 times in my life
Kisumu County Women Representative and sister to the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Ruth Odinga, has dismissed claims of a close relationship with Oketch Salah, stating that she has only met him three times in her life and does not know him well.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Ruth Odinga said she was surprised by assertions that Oketch Salah claims to know her personally
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. “I really don’t know him that well. I am one of the people surprised that he says he knows me. In my whole life, I have met Oketch Salah about three times,” she said.
She further distanced herself from any engagement with him, adding that she did not want to be drawn into discussions about him.
According to her, if he were indeed a friend or close associate of her brother, as he claims, he should have upheld integrity, especially in private conversations.
“If at all he was my brother’s friend or son, as he says it, he should have had the integrity that if my brother talked to him and confided in him, he should not have come out to say that my brother told him this and that,” she stated.
Ruth Odinga also urged Oketch Salah to give their family space during a difficult period.
She revealed that within the party, it had been agreed that he should not speak on behalf of the political outfit since he is not a registered member.
“ I’d like him to please give us space as a family to be a family. In the party, we discussed that Oketch Salah is not supposed to be allowed to speak on behalf of the party because he is not a party member. I am surprised that I keep seeing him coming out and doing what he does,” she said.
Addressing reports surrounding her brother’s final days in India, Ruth Odinga clarified that she was present when he passed away.
She added that by the time she arrived, Oketch Salah was no longer there.
“By the time I got to India, I never saw him. I am the one who was with my brother when he passed away. So I came when he had already left. Whether he left because he was scared of me coming, I will not be able to tell,” she remarked.
