Doctors from the Indian hospital where the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga died are in Kenya to pay their last respects.
Their presence in the country was confirmed on Thursday, October 30, when Mombasa Governor and ODM Deputy Leader Abdulswamad Nassir received them in Mombasa.
They were accompanied by Rosemary Odinga, Raila's daughter, who had previously received treatment at the same hospital in India.
"This morning, I received Rosemary Odinga in Mombasa, daughter to our departed Party Leader, H.E. Raila Amolo Odinga, C.G.H, who was accompanied by doctors from Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Hospital in Kerala, India," Governor Nassir stated.
"They are in Kenya to pay their final respects to a man whose life and legacy transcended borders. The global outpouring of love for Baba is a reflection of his extraordinary journey; one defined by courage, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to justice and humanity."
Raila was taking a walk on the premises of the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre on October 15 when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed.
He was then rushed to a private hospital in Koothattukulam, a municipality of Kerala state, India, where attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead.
Raila had only been at the Ayurvedic centre for five days, receiving Ayurvedic therapy for a persistent leg problem, before he died so suddenly.
This was reportedly a follow-up visit, as he had previously received treatment at a hospital in Mumbai. He also allegedly had several pre-existing conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.
In 2019, Raila's daughter, Rosemary, started receiving similar traditional Ayurvedic medicine at the same facility to recover her eyesight, which she had lost after a battle with a brain tumor and aneurysm in 2017. She started regaining her eyesight in 2022 after several treatments.
In an exclusive interview with Kenyans.co.ke in 2022, Dr Sreekanth Namboothri, who was part of the surgical team, confirmed that they were confident they could treat Rosemary successfully even before meeting her.
Having received Rosemary's medical records following several unsuccessful treatments by conventional medicine, Dr Namboothri expressed confidence that he could prevent her vision from deteriorating further.
He also confirmed that he could stabilise her vision first and then improve it gradually, correcting her colour perception and field vision after a series of treatments that ended in 2022.
