Raila Returns Home Aboard Luxury Private Jet After 3-Week Medical Trip in Dubai

ODM leader Raila Odinga has returned to the country after a three-week medical trip in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A private jet carrying Odinga landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi on Sunday evening, Daily Nation reports.

The luxurious Airbus A318-112(CJ) Elite A6-CAS, MS4211 owned and operated by UAE-based Constellation Aviation Services departed Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai at 6.13 pm local time and arrived in Nairobi at 9.49 pm, according to Flightradar24.com.

Multiple aircraft tracking sites show the plane was initially scheduled for a trip to Zambia on Sunday but was diverted to Nairobi. It had left for Lusaka on Sunday morning but returned to Dubai while overflying Saudi Arabia.

This is the same aircraft that flew Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed to Dubai last Thursday to visit Odinga.

The 19-passenger capacity jet boasts a luxurious lounge, VIP dining area, private office, and a boardroom, among other features.

Raila underwent a corrective nerve surgery at a top German hospital in Dubai, according to his wife Ida Odinga.

“He is in the United Arab Emirates-Dubai based International Hospital run by Germans. He has been successfully treated with a mild nerve disorder affecting one leg and not what has been alleged,” Raila’s wife Ida Odinga told Daily Nation.

She added: “You know that currently there are no commercial flights. This means that if he is to come back, we have to charter a plane. But that process will be kicked off once he fully recovers.”