Did former Prime Minister Raila Odinga fly out to China for cancer treatment?
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has been forced to address rumours that hit social media late last night claiming that Raila had been flown to China for the treatment of a type of cancer associated with old age.
The reports further suggested that Raila flew together with his daughter Winnie Odinga and a male aide on Sunday, June 21.
These claims were field even further by a cheeky post by former State House Director Dennis Itumbi who sent out an unusual, suspected cryptic message on Sunday night wishing the former opposition leader a good night.
In a statement, however, ODM Director of Communications Philip Etale rubbished the claims as fake news.
He further clarified that the former premier was to DRC Congo in his capacity as the African Union Envoy for the virtual Pan African Conference on the Grand Inga Dam.
“Ignore the fake news. It is the work of sick people who have run out of ideas. Hon. Raila Odinga is currently in Kinshasa, DRC in his capacity as the AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa for the virtual Pan African Conference on the Grand Inga Dam.” he stated.
The dam has been touted as Africa’s biggest water project with leaders expected to grace the event either physically or virtually including those from Angola, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa and Kenya.
Ignore the FAKE NEWS. It is the work of sick people who have run out of ideas. Ends…
— Philip Etale (@EtalePhilip) June 22, 2020
According to a schedule for the event shared by Raila, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi is expected to kick off the event with an opening speech at around 12:30 p.m. on Monday, June 22, before Raila gives an address at 1:30 p.m.
Among those expected to address the event are Wang Yu, the President of China Three Gorges International, Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University and Laura Gnassou, an experimental economist.
It remains unclear whether Odinga flew to Kinshasa amid Coid-19 restrictions as by the time of going to press, the ODM party was yet to respond to our inquiries.
