Oketch Salah. Photo/Courtesy
Nairobi Senator and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has offered his first detailed public account of how he came to know businessman Oketch Salah, placing the encounter on the emotionally charged day former Prime Minister Raila Odinga died.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Sifuna said Salah first caught his attention amid confusion at the Odinga family residence as leaders gathered to mourn Raila.
According to Sifuna, President William Ruto was already present and was in the process of conveying condolences to Raila’s widow, Mama Ida Odinga, when an unexpected interruption occurred.
“I remember taking note of Oketch Salah on the day that Baba died. The President had already come in and was in the middle of passing his condolences to Mama Ida when suddenly there was commotion,” Sifuna said. “Somebody just burst in and everybody was in shock. That was my formal introduction to Oketch Salah.”
Sifuna’s remarks come against the backdrop of sustained public debate over Salah’s claims of closeness to the late ODM leader.
Following Raila Odinga’s death, Salah gave media interviews describing himself as being present during Raila’s final moments and portraying their relationship as deeply personal.
Those assertions were sharply disputed by members of the Odinga family, including Winnie Odinga, who dismissed the claims as false and misleading.
The controversy has since spilled into the political arena, with questions raised about Salah’s role, access to the Odinga family, and his public commentary on ODM’s internal affairs.
Sifuna himself has previously been mentioned in claims attributed to Salah about alleged private conversations with Raila, claims that have been rejected by the family.
In the Citizen TV interview, Sifuna did not directly accuse Salah of wrongdoing but appeared to cast doubt on narratives that place him at the centre of key moments around Raila’s death.
His account adds a new, insider perspective to a dispute that continues to generate debate within ODM circles and the wider political space.