The Day Racism Almost Brought Raila to Tears

Photo: Raila Odinga(Source/Citizen)

A racist event took place at the University of Nairobi leaving the ODM party leader Raila Odinga on the cusp of tears as emotions of rage and resentment brewed inside him.

Make no mistakes, racial-split has been fueled further in this age of social media, however, decades ago, the presence of it could still be noticed in Kenya.

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Delving into his book The Flame of Freedom, you'll notice Raila bringing to focus his stint at the University of Nairobi in the early 1970s.

The former prime minister was admitted to the mechanical engineering department at the university and also focused on the theory of machines, material science, and technical drawing.

His class was a big bubble inclusive of Africans and Asians from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

"I had my first experience of the departmental board of examinations. Each department held its own board meetings where the student's exam results were looked at to decide what the pass mark would be. There were 16 of us on the board,

"When we looked at the marks, one student had scored very highly in all his papers. I was therefore astonished to hear one lecturer remark that the student had done so well that, if he had been an Asian, he would have been awarded a First Class Degree. I felt sick to my stomach and adrenalin was racing through my blood," he wrote.

The aggravated Raila was astonished when the board decided to grade the student poorly based on his skin color.

It was as if Kenya's independence had cloaked itself in invisibility.

Despite being a rocky on the board and going through the patterns of his first meeting, Raila rose to deliver his disappointment. 

"Mr. Chairman, I beg your pardon. I'm new here - this is my first meeting - but this discussion sounds to me like a debate in the South African parliament. If this man has acquired the marks qualifying him for a First Class degree, why should it matter whether he is Asian or African," he asserted.

The senior colleagues appreciated his point of view by voting to reverse their initial recommendation.