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The hat was more than a hat. Literally.
As Raila Odinga’s body made its final journey home from India, his youngest daughter, Winnie, held tightly to his familiar cream-coloured fedora. It was one of the few things she could still protect, a small piece of a man whose presence had filled her life and Kenya’s political imagination for decades.
The image of Winnie carrying her father’s hat was deeply personal. The country was mourning a political giant, but she was mourning her father.
A year later, on the first anniversary of Raila’s death, Winnie has announced her intention to contest the Nairobi Senate seat in the 2027 General Election.
The timing is poignant. On a day devoted to remembering her father, she has declared her own political ambitions, signalling a shift from being one of the most recognisable faces of the Odinga family to a politician seeking a mandate in her own right.
“As Edwin Sifuna seeks a higher office, I see an opportunity in Nairobi, which is why I have decided I will vie for Senator of Nairobi County,” she said.
And just like that, the conversation shifted from the daughter who carried Baba’s hat to the politician who wants a seat of her own.
The last-born girl
To many Kenyans, Winnie is Chogo, the last-born child of Raila and Ida Odinga. The nickname carries the familiarity of family life, a reminder that behind the powerful surname is a daughter who grew up in a household where politics was never far from the conversation.
Her father was no ordinary political figure. His name could summon crowds, ignite debate and divide opinion. His decades-long career placed the Odinga family at the centre of Kenya’s political story.
Growing up as Raila’s youngest daughter meant sharing him with a country that claimed a piece of his time, energy and, eventually, his final goodbye.
Yet Winnie was not simply a spectator in her father’s political world. She worked around his campaigns and communications before stepping into politics herself, eventually winning a seat in the East African Legislative Assembly.
In November 2022, Parliament elected her to represent Kenya in the regional legislature, where she took office in December that year. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, she became part of the East African Community’s legislative institution, serving a five-year term running to 2027.
The EALA offered Winnie a political platform beyond her father’s immediate circle and an opportunity to participate in regional affairs. Her current tenure has also given her experience in legislative politics before her proposed move into elective politics at home.
The Nairobi Senate bid would take her into a different contest, one in which voters will have to decide whether her experience, ideas and political programme merit their support.
The hat she could not let go
For years, Raila’s trademark headgear had been part of his public identity, appearing at political rallies, meetings and public ceremonies. But in Winnie’s hands, it became something else: a personal possession tied to the final journey of a daughter and her father
She explained how protective she had been of it throughout the journey, describing it as one of the few things she could still hold on to.
The image captured a kind of helplessness that public figures’ families rarely get to show. Crowds could mourn Raila, politicians could speak of his legacy, and supporters could debate who would inherit his political movement. Winnie, however, had been left with the painful task of bringing her father home.
The symbolism of the hat has since acquired another layer. At a ceremony in Bondo earlier this month, elders placed a traditional hat on Winnie’s head in a symbolic gesture associated with the possibility of her carrying forward her father’s political mantle.
Winnie’s political journey has not started with this Senate announcement.
Her election to the East African Legislative Assembly placed her among Kenya’s representatives in a regional institution whose work concerns cooperation among East African Community partner states.
The role gave her a platform in regional legislation while her father remained a central figure in national politics.
The Senate is responsible for representing counties, participating in lawmaking on matters concerning counties and exercising oversight over revenue allocated to county governments. A Nairobi senator must therefore make a case on issues that touch residents directly, from public spending and service delivery to the accountability of county leadership.
The capital is also a demanding political terrain. Its electorate is diverse, its concerns immediate and its contests fiercely competitive.
A famous surname may open doors, but it cannot replace a convincing programme on jobs, housing, transport, healthcare and the management of public resources.
Winnie will have to demonstrate that she understands Nairobi beyond its place in her father’s national political story.
Can she translate the loyalty associated with Raila into support for her own agenda? Can she persuade voters that she is more than the daughter of a political icon?
Those questions will follow her into the campaign.
The Odingaism
Political inheritance can be both an advantage and a burden.
Raila’s name carries a formidable history of opposition politics, democratic reform and a loyal support base. It also invites comparisons that few politicians have to contend with.
Winnie’s challenge will be to honour that history without allowing it to become the entirety of her political identity.
Raila’s death left a space in the Orange Democratic Movement and among supporters who had looked to him for direction through decades of political contests. The question of who will carry his legacy has inevitably turned towards his family and the wider political movement he helped build.
Winnie’s Senate bid will require her to turn recognition into a political proposition that voters can interrogate. Her experience at EALA gives her a legislative starting point; the Nairobi contest will demand that she demonstrate how that experience can serve residents of the capital.
She must also navigate the expectations attached to her father’s name while making room for her own ideas, priorities and leadership style.
There is a temptation to see Winnie’s future entirely through the lens of inheritance. She is Raila’s daughter, the last-born known as Chogo, the woman who carried his hat and the politician whom some supporters hope will continue his legacy.
But she is also a woman making a decision about her own future.
The Senate bid offers her an opportunity to define what that future means, beyond the grief surrounding her father’s death and the weight of a name that has shaped Kenyan politics for decades.
The hat remains an unforgettable image from Raila’s final journey home. A daughter attempted to protect the last tangible thing she could hold on to.
The Senate will demand something different: a political vision, a campaign and the votes of Nairobi residents.
Chogo has announced her next move. Will Winnie Odinga turn the memory of Baba into a mandate of her own?
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The hat was more than a hat. Literally.
As Raila Odinga’s body made its final journey home from India, his youngest daughter, Winnie, held tightly to his familiar cream-coloured fedora. It was one of the few things she could still protect, a small piece of a man whose presence had filled her life and Kenya’s political imagination for decades.
The image of Winnie carrying her father’s hat was deeply personal. The country was mourning a political giant, but she was mourning her father.
A year later, on the first anniversary of Raila’s death,
Winnie
has announced her intention to contest the Nairobi Senate seat in the 2027 General Election.
The timing is poignant. On a day devoted to remembering her father, she has declared her own political ambitions, signalling a shift from being one of the most recognisable faces of the Odinga family to a politician seeking a mandate in her own right.
“As Edwin Sifuna seeks a higher office, I see an opportunity in Nairobi, which is why I have decided I will vie for Senator of Nairobi County,” she said.
And just like that, the conversation shifted from the daughter who carried Baba’s hat to the politician who wants a seat of her own.
The last-born girl
To many Kenyans, Winnie is Chogo, the last-born child of Raila and Ida Odinga. The nickname carries the familiarity of family life, a reminder that behind the powerful surname is a daughter who grew up in a household where politics was never far from the conversation.
Her father was no ordinary political figure. His name could summon crowds, ignite debate and divide opinion. His decades-long career placed the Odinga family at the centre of Kenya’s political story.
Growing up as Raila’s youngest daughter meant sharing him with a country that claimed a piece of his time, energy and, eventually, his final goodbye.
Yet Winnie was not simply a spectator in her father’s political world. She worked around his campaigns and communications before stepping into politics herself, eventually winning a seat in the East African Legislative Assembly.
In November 2022, Parliament elected her to represent Kenya in the regional legislature, where she took office in December that year. Based in Arusha, Tanzania, she became part of the East African Community’s legislative institution, serving a five-year term running to 2027.
The EALA offered Winnie a political platform beyond her father’s immediate circle and an opportunity to participate in regional affairs. Her current tenure has also given her experience in legislative politics before her proposed move into
elective politics
at home.
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The Nairobi Senate bid would take her into a different contest, one in which voters will have to decide whether her experience, ideas and political programme merit their support.
The hat she could not let go
For years, Raila’s trademark headgear had been part of his public identity, appearing at political rallies, meetings and public ceremonies. But in Winnie’s hands, it became something else: a personal possession tied to the final journey of a daughter and her father
She explained how protective she had been of it throughout the journey, describing it as one of the few things she could still hold on to.
The image captured a kind of helplessness that public figures’ families rarely get to show. Crowds could mourn Raila, politicians could speak of his legacy, and supporters could debate who would inherit his political movement. Winnie, however, had been left with the painful task of bringing her father home.
The symbolism of the hat has since acquired another layer. At a ceremony in Bondo earlier this month, elders placed a traditional hat on Winnie’s head in a symbolic gesture associated with the possibility of her carrying forward her father’s political mantle.
Winnie’s political journey has not started with this Senate announcement.
Her election to the East African Legislative Assembly placed her among Kenya’s representatives in a regional institution whose work concerns cooperation among East African Community partner states.
The role gave her a platform in regional legislation while her father remained a central figure in national politics.
The Senate is responsible for representing counties, participating in lawmaking on matters concerning counties and exercising oversight over revenue allocated to county governments. A Nairobi senator must therefore make a case on issues that touch residents directly, from public spending and service delivery to the accountability of county leadership.
The capital is also a demanding political terrain. Its electorate is diverse, its concerns immediate and its contests fiercely competitive.
A famous surname may open doors, but it cannot replace a convincing programme on jobs, housing, transport, healthcare and the management of public resources.
Winnie will have to demonstrate that she understands Nairobi beyond its place in her father’s national political story.
Can she translate the loyalty associated with Raila into support for her own agenda? Can she persuade voters that she is more than the daughter of a political icon?
Those questions will follow her into the campaign.
The Odingaism
Political inheritance can be both an advantage and a burden.
Raila’s name carries a formidable history of
opposition politics
, democratic reform and a loyal support base. It also invites comparisons that few politicians have to contend with.
Winnie’s challenge will be to honour that history without allowing it to become the entirety of her political identity.
Raila’s death left a space in the Orange Democratic Movement and among supporters who had looked to him for direction through decades of political contests. The question of who will carry his legacy has inevitably turned towards his family and the wider political movement he helped build.
Winnie’s Senate bid will require her to turn recognition into a political proposition that voters can interrogate. Her experience at EALA gives her a legislative starting point; the Nairobi contest will demand that she demonstrate how that experience can serve residents of the capital.
She must also navigate the expectations attached to her father’s name while making room for her own ideas, priorities and leadership style.
There is a temptation to see Winnie’s future entirely through the lens of inheritance. She is Raila’s daughter, the last-born known as Chogo, the woman who carried his hat and the politician whom some supporters hope will continue his legacy.
But she is also a woman making a decision about her own future.
The Senate bid offers her an opportunity to define what that future means, beyond the grief surrounding her father’s death and the weight of a name that has shaped Kenyan politics for decades.
The hat remains an unforgettable image from Raila’s final journey home. A daughter attempted to protect the last tangible thing she could hold on to.
The Senate will demand something different: a political vision, a campaign and the votes of Nairobi residents.
Chogo has announced her next move. Will
Winnie Odinga
turn the memory of Baba into a mandate of her own?
By Eunice Omollo