In a masterclass of political jujitsu, businessman Oketch Salah has disarmed his detractors by refusing to return fire. Following a blistering televised assault by Winnie Odinga, who dismissed him as a delusional imposter seeking to profit from her father's death, Salah has issued a measured statement invoking the sanctity of the Odinga matriarch, Mama Ida.

The saga began when Winnie, the fiery legislator and daughter of the late Raila Odinga, used a prime-time Citizen TV interview to eviscerate Salah’s claims that he was a "son" to the enigma and present during his final moments in India. She labeled him a fraud who belongs in a "psychiatric hospital," effectively declaring open season on his credibility.But rather than engaging in a mudslinging match, Salah has pivoted to the moral high ground.

The "Adopted Son" Dilemma

"I choose to remain quiet because of the respect I have for Her Excellency, Mama Ida," Salah wrote, a move calculated to portray him as the respectful underdog against the entitled heir. He insists his accounts of Raila’s last days are factual and "lived," promising to reveal his "receipts" in a future sit-down, but for now, he is playing the long game.

This clash highlights the fierce and often ugly battle for control over Raila Odinga’s legacy. Winnie is positioning herself as the sole gatekeeper of the truth, aggressively pruning any unauthorized narratives. Salah, an unknown figure until the funeral, represents the legions of "political orphans" scrambling for relevance in the post-Raila era.

• The Verification Gap: While Winnie was physically present with her father in Kerala, Salah claims to have had access to the inner sanctum. Without independent corroboration, it becomes a word-against-word feud, with the Odingas holding the trump card of blood relation.
• The Strategic Silence: By refusing to attack Winnie back, Salah avoids alienating the ODM base that reveres the family, while subtly suggesting that Winnie’s outburst was unbecoming of a leader.

Legacy Wars

The dispute is a microcosm of the fracturing within the ODM movement. As the mourning period fades, the knives are coming out, and the definition of who was "closest" to Baba is the new currency of power. Winnie has drawn a line in the sand: the family owns the memory.

Salah may be silent for now, but in Kenyan politics, silence is often just the deep breath before the scream.