National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga's wife, Mrs Ida Odinga, has stated that her husband is the force behind Deputy President William Ruto's success in politics.
In an interview with NTV, Mrs Odinga asserted that DP Ruto ought to be grateful instead of attacking the former Prime Minister who mentored him.
Ida was responding to a question on what her feelings are concerning the DP's incessant portrayal of her husband as a storyteller through the "mtu wa vitendawili (the riddles guy)" tag.
"Ruto is actually a product of Raila's making and it is those vitendawilis that trained him to be what he is today. He should be grateful for the vitendawilis," she defended her husband.
Ida noted that the former Prime Minister learnt the riddles during his time in detention after the 1982 coup attempt.
"When you think of detention, all that he could do was to read all those Swahili books with idioms and riddles and wise sayings. He learnt most of them while he was in prison. He tells me that he read the Bible through and through three times," she explained.
Mrs Odinga, a teacher by training, also revealed that she is passionate about single mothers because she had to struggle as the only parent when her husband was detained.
"It is something I would say I have gone through. Way back in the 80s, I was a young woman, a teacher and a young mother. It was a difficult time and for many years we were alone. We call them the dark days because it was a very difficult time.
"It was not permanent but I went through being a single mother for approximately 10 years and I know the kind of help I needed, it was not easy I was taking care of the children and at the same time worrying about my husband in detention," she recalled.
Here is a video of the interview courtesy of NTV.
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