Beryl Achieng Odinga laid to rest at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, Bondo
By Kenneth Mwenda, December 6, 2025Beryl Achieng Odinga, sister of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was laid to rest on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at her ancestral home in Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, Bondo. The burial drew hundreds of mourners, including family, friends, and national leaders, who gathered to honour her life and legacy.
Beryl passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, weeks after the death of her brother, Raila Odinga. She left behind her children Ami, Auma, Chizi, and Taurai. Beryl was a distinguished professional, serving as the first black Town Clerk of Mutare, Zimbabwe, and later as Chairperson of Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company.
Her life reflected dedication to family, public service, and the African continent.
Mama Ida Odinga, Beryl’s sister-in-law, spoke about her personal memories of Beryl, highlighting her generosity and spirited nature.
“Let me say something about my sister-in-law, Beryl. It is not easy to talk about Beryl. I first met Beryl when I was at the University of Nairobi. Beryl came in when I was doing my third year,” Ida said.
“She was a pretty girl. She was eloquent, full of life. Anything, everything goes for Beryl. But then, Beryl also happened to have been Raila’s sister. By then, we were not married with Raila. And she was friendly to everybody and very generous,” she added.
Mama Ida recalled an example of Beryl’s generosity.
“She used to come to my room to talk to me. And Beryl had a battalion of friends. So many that you could not keep pace. One time there was a wedding in town. Famous wedding. I also went. In the evening, there was dancing. She was a good dancer too, you’ve been told.”
“I saw somebody wearing a dress just like mine. Exactly like mine. I made this dress. Those times we used to teach our own clothes sometimes. When we went back, I told her, ‘Achieng, I saw somebody wearing a dress like mine.’ She said, ‘She didn’t have something nice to wear, so I went to your wardrobe, took your dress and gave her.’ That was Beryl—so generous and free with her friends.”
Beryl’s final days
Ida explained that Beryl had returned to Kenya from Zimbabwe and was working in Nairobi when her health began to deteriorate.
“So, towards the end, when Beryl had come back to Kenya from Zimbabwe and was working in town, Beryl fell sick. I went to see her in the hospital, and she could not talk, and she had many gadgets on her, and I was very disappointed. And there I found her children,” Ida said.
She recalled visiting her in hospital and finding her so unwell that she was unable to speak, surrounded by several medical gadgets, and in the presence of her children, an experience that shocked her profoundly.
Ida noted that the sight of Beryl’s condition immediately convinced her that Raila should not visit the hospital, saying she feared the emotional toll it would have had on him, given the unusually close bond the two shared.
“So when I went back home, I told Raila, ‘Don’t go and see Beryl now; she is not okay,’ because I did not want Raila to see Beryl in that condition, because I knew it would kill him, because they were very close,” she shared.
She added that when Raila later travelled to India for treatment, where he eventually died, she instructed family members not to inform Beryl of his passing, explaining that she wanted to shield her from distress during an already fragile period.
She further revealed that she chose not to return to see Beryl after Raila’s death, stating that she knew she would not withstand the pain of facing her while still grappling with her own grief.
Ida said that despite her efforts, the news of Raila’s passing ultimately reached Beryl, a development she believes added to the emotional weight surrounding her final days.
“So when Raila went to India for treatment, where he died, I told the family again, ‘Don’t tell Beryl that Raila has died.’ I don’t know whether they kept that promise, but personally, I remember I did not want to go and see her, because I knew I would not stand the pain,” Ida said.
Ida emphasised that the family has barely had time to process Raila’s death before being confronted with Beryl’s passing, observing that the rapid succession of the two losses has left the Odinga family deeply shaken.
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who studied alongside Beryl at the University of Nairobi, also spoke at the burial.
“My history with this family began even before I came to know Raila, because this sister lying here today, Beryl, was in the same class with me at the University of Nairobi. Although I later noticed she had been born in March, while I was born in December, so we are correct age mates,” Kalonzo said.
He praised her humility and upbringing.
“Even there in law school, we saw from her style and character that she had had a very good upbringing, because she never showed that she was Jaramogi’s daughter. We did not know that, and we even finished that period of school without knowing that Beryl was actually the daughter of the Vice President. She was completely at ease with us,” he said.
Kalonzo also remembered Beryl’s love for dancing.
“It is also known that she loved dancing. My sister Sally Kosgei, who is also in this audience, was her dancing mate. We have heard that even when they met later in Zimbabwe, they still shared that bond,” he said.