Lawyer Willis Otieno has blasted the utterances made by Nyeri County Governor Mutahi Kahiga, in which the county boss appears to be happy over the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

In a widely circulated video clip, Governor Khiga is seen addressing mourners in the Kikuyu dialect, stating that Raila Odinga’s death is a blessing in disguise, meant to bring back development to the Central region of Kenya. Kahiga said the late Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader was a hindrance to development in the region lately.

These assertions have attracted national outrage against the Nyeri Governor, with Willis Otieno stating that Kahiga thrives by spitting venom. He has instead asked the Nyeri Governor to stop blaming other regions for problems in his devolved unit.

Also watch: ODM condemns Governor Kahiga over remarks on Raila Odinga’s death.

Otieno speaks

”A governor with devolved funds to fix schools, hospitals, roads, markets, water, and agriculture in Nyeri still wakes up every day blaming Nyanza and Western for his own failures. Mutahi Kahiga was elected to lead a county, not to gossip about communities. But when a man is small in mind and bankrupt in vision, he seeks relevance by spitting venom,” Otieno took to X on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.

”It’s easier to insult Raila than to explain why Nyeri’s hospitals have no medicine, why farmers are sinking in debt, and why the youth are jobless. He thinks shouting at the dead makes him powerful. No, it just exposes the rot in his soul. The man is drunk on tribal hate and allergic to work. He has devolved funds but not sense,” Otieno added.

The lawyer also questioned the integrity of Mutahi Kahiga. ”How does a whole governor turn from fixing lives to fuelling division at funerals? Because it’s easier to weaponise ignorance than to govern. Mutahi Kahiga is a disgrace to the institution of devolution; a loud, lazy embarrassment masquerading as leadership. Nyeri deserved a leader; they got a loudspeaker for bitterness,” Otieno said.

CoG condemns Kahiga

At the same time, the Council of Governors (CoG), where Governor Kahiga sits as a Deputy Chair, has expressed deep disappointment over his remarks that appeared to celebrate the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, terming them “reckless, insensitive, and inhumane.” In a statement dated October 21, 2025, and signed by CoG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, the council also dissociated itself from Kahiga’s comments.

Raila Odinga Odinga died on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, while undergoing treatment in India. The former PM was laid to rest on Sunday, October 19, 2025, at his home in Bondo, Siaya County.