Philip Etale says the passing of Raila Odinga has left a gap that is hard to explain, describing their final conversations and the deep belief many close to him carried that Raila seemed almost immortal.
Speaking during an interview with Radio Generation on Thursday, the ODM Communications Director said the news of Raila’s death hit him and many others with a force they were not prepared for, even though he had been receiving treatment in India.
Etale said he had known Raila for most of his life, a bond that made the final days even heavier to process.
He recalled that Raila often called him from India, keeping their conversations warm and light even as he continued his treatment.
“Baba was really someone I’ve known for over half of my life. You know, we’ve been together. We’ve been very close,” he said.
The ODM Director remembered an incident on October 6, 2025, when a few young people walked into his office looking worried after reading alarming posts online claiming Raila had died.
Etale said he immediately called Raila and placed him on speaker to calm them down.
Raila reassured them with the same humour and strength he was known for.
“He told them, hey, I’m okay. I’m out of danger, I’m done with the procedure, yeah. But you know, Philip tell these people who are killing me before my time that I’m praying for them,” Etale said.
He later posted those words exactly as Raila had spoken them.
Even now, Etale said he believes Raila still meant those words even in death.
“I’m pretty sure, wherever he is, he’s praying for those people who killed him before his time,” he said.
Going further, Etale shared details of their final conversation on October 13, 2025, two days before Raila passed away.
Raila had called him around 6.45 pm while he was upcountry.
“He told me, yeah, how is Kenya? I told him, it’s good everyone. People are really anxious to see you back,” he said. Raila told him he hoped for a warm welcome on his return, saying, “Yeah, I’m coming back on Friday. I want that like Baba, while you’re away. Moment,” Etale said.
Two days later, on Wednesday morning, Etale received the call that Raila had died.
“It’s the will of God, and you accept it,” he said, though he admitted it was painful for those who were close to him.
Etale said many around Raila believed he carried a strength that made him seem like someone who would live forever.
“In fact, people who are close to Baba always knew that he would he was almost near immortal, that he would never die,” he said.
Raila died on October 15, 2025, in India at the age of 80. He had been undergoing treatment at a facility in Kochi.
Doctors at Devamatha Hospital said he suffered a cardiac arrest during his morning walk at the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic eye hospital-cum-research centre where he had been for five days.
Cardiologist Sr Alphons, who was among those attending to him, said they made every effort to save him but could not.
“In spite of our continued cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other measures, we could not make him survive,” she said in an interview.
Doctors pronounced him dead at 9.52 am.
Raila’s will stated that he wanted to be buried within 72 hours.
Back home, President William Ruto moved fast to honour him. He suspended all public events and ordered a state funeral.
The government also declared a seven-day mourning period, with flags at half-mast across the country.
In a historic directive, all sporting activities were also halted, a level of national honour never before given to any former head of government.
Raila was buried on October 19, 2025, at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi next to his father’s grave and was given 17-gunshot salute.
For Etale, the memories of Raila’s final words continue to replay. The disbelief that followed his death, he said, came from the image many of them carried, that Raila was larger than life.
Yet in the end, he said, they surrendered to the reality that “it’s a will of God. We accept it, and we know, wherever he is, he’s at peace.”
