No one seems to know Salah but his shadow looms large in ODM

ODM insiders and Ida Odinga have all claimed they don’t know Oketch Salah. The burly political aspirant burst into the limelight after the death of Raila Odinga. Ida says she knew Oketch’s father years ago.

“He was from Homa Bay and he settled in Migori where he was a wealthy businessman. Everyone in Migori knew him,” she says, adding, “The first time I met him was mid last year. It wasn’t a planned meeting, but we bumped into each other and had a brief chat. I don’t know him well.”

An ODM insider, who is part of the protocol office, Eliud Odhiambo, says Oketch appeared from nowhere days after Raila died.

“Our first meeting was during ODM’s 20th Anniversary celebrations where he appeared in Mombasa and got into a fight with the protocol team. He wanted Oburu to be booked in Whitesands while the party had decided to go to the Travellers Beach Hotel.

“He insisted that the hotels should be changed and people resisted, and there was some friction. No one knew him and he was mingling with ODM leadership,” says Odhiambo.

Then Beryl Odinga died and was buried, and Oketch didn’t show up anywhere during the period. “The ODM had a meet-the-people tour in Busia and Kakamega. He showed up in Kakamega when the event had started. Everyone had landed their helicopters in Oparanya’s home. He came and landed on the field, interrupting the event. After the event, the leaders went for lunch and Oketch forced his way to the high table where he sat with Oburu, Oparanya and Governor Barasa. No one in the protocol team knew what to do, and pulling him out would have caused a disruption. But we noticed Oburu wasn’t comfortable around him,” says Odhiambo.

The next ODM event was the meeting in Kibera in January. “Before the Kibera rally, we had a holding room in Serena where leaders planned before heading to the rally. Oketch forced his way in there, and after a while, some rowdy youth singing his praises stormed Serena. He dished out money to them and Oburu was visibly distraught by the behaviour of the youth in Serena.”

The next ODM meeting was held in Kisumu and Oketch came alone in a chopper. “He came in after everyone had spoken and there was a breach of protocol. Someone allowed him to speak and all he said was ‘two term’,” says Odhiambo.

He reveals that it was during the roadshow in Kondele that Oketch got emotional because the gang who had been praising him made away with Sh3 million. It was during the Kisumu rally that ODM party officials decided to shield the party leader, Dr Oburu, from Oketch and grant him no access. “He wasn’t sponsoring the party; he was adding no value to the party, but wanted to hang around the party leader for photo opportunities. And the party leader also told us that he didn’t know the young man.”

Then came the Kericho rally. All avenues to get to the party leader were blocked and Oketch pulled a surprise. He flew into the rally in a chopper. “We were shocked to see Jaoko Oburu and Kasmuel Macoure come out of the chopper with Oketch. They all got a chance to speak. All he said was about ‘two term’. Nothing else. Before coming to hang around the party leader, he had tried hanging around Winnie, who chased him. Now the party leadership has rebuffed him, so he is hanging out with the party leader’s son as a ticket to open political doors for him,” says Odhiambo.

Peter Opiyo, an ODM operative in Migori, says Oketch’s big break was in 2020 during the Covid period when he started working at the gold mines in Nyatike.

“In the past few years, he has made friends with the high and mighty and has had access to the highest office in Kenya. He is frequently in DRC, Uganda and Zimbabwe. He even talks to the presidents of those countries. He is either a very smart and lucky businessman or is backed by a very powerful person.”

Mugendi Opiyo, who was in Ombo Primary School with Oketch, says he was a generous pupil who came from a privileged background. “He used to bring juice and bread and share with his friends, and invite his classmates to his father’s house during festive seasons. His father owned the biggest businesses in Migori town.”