The Odinga’s have lost another relative, barely a month after the death of the former Prime Minister Raila Amollo odinga.
This is Berly Achieng’ Odinga, who was the youngest sibling of Raila.
She was arguably the most apolitical of the Odingas, opting to carve her own path of professional achievement and largely steering clear of the political fame that enveloped her family.
UNIQUE POSITION
The daughter of Kenya’s first Vice-President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and his first wife, Mary Auma, Achieng’ was a professional teacher and a qualified lawyer whose educational journey was notable for its distinction; she was a university classmate of prominent Kenyan figures such as former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o.
According to her, she pursued a career in law precisely because it did not require the mathematics she found so challenging in school. She also held the unique position of being the only one among her siblings to have received all her formal education within Kenya.
TOWN CLERK IN ZIMBABWE
At some point, Beryl’s life was marked by a chapter of profound difficulty. thi s was after she married she married Otieno Abala (also referred to as Ambala), a real estate tycoon and former Member of Parliament for Gem Constituency. The marriage that started in 1974, which her father Jaramogi had disapproved of, later became abusive. According to her brother Raila’s biography, The Flame of Freedom, Abala was suspected of using the Odinga family name as a stepping stone for his political career. The situation deteriorated to the point where Raila Odinga eventually helped her relocate to Zimbabwe to escape the marriage. There, she rebuilt her life and career, making history as the first black town clerk of Mutare, Zimbabwe’s third-largest city, and later serving as company secretary for the Housing Corporation of Zimbabwe.
NO POLITICS
Upon her return to Kenya, she continued her career in public service. In 2020, she was appointed as the chairperson of the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC). Despite this, she consistently maintained a low profile. She publicly stated that the reason she was not as well-known as her siblings was that she did not heavily engage in political activities.
