Behind Raila’s Tears of a Stateman
As the curtain falls on the life of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, not many are aware of the backstory behind his eye condition.
Raila had long battled an eye issue that made him tear up unexpectedly.
He was frequently spotted with a handkerchief, always dabbing at his eyes, which became a target for political jibes. His opponents often mimicked him, particularly the way he would pause mid-speech to pull out his handkerchief and wipe away his tears.
Many of his supporters speculated that this issue stemmed from his extensive history of political activism and his active role in protests—a hallmark of his career where he often found himself in the line of tear gas.
The story goes back to the Nyayo Torture Chambers, where he spent more than seven years locked up without a trial after being accused of involvement in the 1982 coup attempt against the Moi regime.
During that time, he faced unimaginable hardships. When he was introduced as the Azimio presidential candidate at Kasarani Stadium in 2021, Raila shared with the nation that his tears served as a painful reminder of the torture he experienced during those years—tears he still wipes away with his handkerchief at every public event.
“The tears from the torture chambers are still running, as you can tell from the handkerchief that never leaves my hand,” Raila said.
One of Raila’s long-time friends, Ahmed Hashi, shared an explanation that matches Raila’s own story about what caused his eye issue. During an interview, Hashi reminisced about a moment in a meeting when the former Prime Minister kept touching the corner of his eye, as he often did, trying to brush away tears.
Hashi handed him a clean handkerchief, and later, when Raila was asked about the situation, he shared that during his time in prison, he didn’t get enough sunlight. This lack of exposure affected his lacrimal glands and ducts, leading to tears flowing from his eyes without him being able to control it.
“I remember one day during a meeting, I noticed that Raila kept on touching the corner of his eye, so I went and got him a clean handkerchief from my car and gave it to him. Later, when I asked him why he was doing that, he said that when he was in prison, he was not exposed to enough sunlight, so the ducts in his eyes exploded and could not be fixed. His tears would just come down. He went through a lot of suffering,” Hashi stated.
This highlights the enduring struggles that Raila had to endure throughout his political journey, which ultimately shaped the way Kenyans saw him—as a genuine statesman and a symbol of Kenya’s Second Liberation.
Behind Raila’s Tears of a Stateman
