Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has revealed that the government exercised caution during the January 2018 swearing-in of the former Prime Minister, the late Raila Odinga, as the people’s president after the chaotic 2017 general election.

Speaking on a local TV interview on Friday, October 17, 2025, shortly after the state funeral of the departed former PM, Matiang’i said he restrained himself as the man in charge of the country’s security agencies at the time Raila Odinga was taking an official oath of office at Uhuru Park, amid cheers by thousands of supporters who had gathered.

Also watch: Mutula Kilonzo Junior: Politics will never be the same again, but Raila fought for this Nation.

“Today is a historic day for the people of Kenya,” Odinga said in a speech after taking his oath. “The people have gathered here in the hundreds of thousands to say enough is enough with the electoral rigging. 

Reflecting on the incident, Fred Matiang’i said it was the greatest test for him as the Interior CS during the exercise that happened right at the heart of the country’s capital city, disputing President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election.

At the same time, the government moved swiftly to gag the media, shutting down independent TV stations during Raila Odinga’s inauguration ceremony.

”When former Prime Minister Raila Odinga went to swear himself in at Uhuru Park, it was the greatest test for me as the Minister for Security. It was a test we passed, because not a single shot was fired,” Matiang’i said.

Reconciliatory nature

However, Matiang’i also added that he was amazed by Raila Odinga’s reconciliatory nature even after friction with people. ”What always amazed me about Raila Odinga was that every time we met, even during difficult moments, there was never a time he failed to laugh or make a light-hearted joke about it. There was no hatred between us. For me, it was duty, and for him, politics was never a matter of hatred or blood,” Matiang’i said.

However, months later, in March 2018, Raila Odinga shook hands with the then-President Uhuru Kenyatta at Harambee House, signalling the end of bad blood between the two leaders in the famous ‘Handshake.’

Matiang’i also revealed that Raila Odinga became a key player in the government’s affairs. ”Under former President Kenyatta’s administration, we regularly briefed Raila Odinga on key national matters so that they (the opposition) understand, even before the Handshake,” he said.

The former prime minister will be laid to rest at his Bondo home in Siaya County on Sunday, October 19, 2025, following his death on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, while undergoing treatment in India.