Don't give your husband money to keep, Ida Odinga tells businesswomen
Nyanza
By
James Omoro
| Aug 05, 2025
ODM Leader Raila Odinga’s wife Ida, is advising women doing business not to tempt their husbands to marry more wives by giving them money for safekeeping.
Ida, a former teacher who addressed business women at Ratang’a market in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay County, claimed a woman who gives her husband money to keep for her may end up with misfortunes.
“My beloved women, I speak to you as a business woman. Don’t give your husbands money to keep for you at home,” she said. According to her, the money may encourage a man to marry another wife.
Instead, she told the women to open bank accounts where they can keep their hard-earned money. Ida argued that a bank account is the only sure way through which a business person can be guaranteed of the safety.
“I am urging women doing business here to open bank accounts. Banks will safeguard your money by ensuring that you get that money at any time you need it,” she said.
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Her concerns were that some women still do not know how to open bank accounts.
Ida maintained that no woman should have difficulties in opening a bank account in this era. She said banks began operating many years ago and anybody who wants to grow financially should not have a problem with opening an account.
She gave example of her mother who opened a bank account in 1937, saying women in the current century should also be conversant with operating bank accounts.
“My biological mother opened a bank account in 1937 when she was still living with her parents in Kakamega. If my mother could open an account that time, what is the problem that deters a modern woman from opening a bank account?” she asked.
Mrs Odinga urged women to embrace the culture of savings and doing businesses. She said this will enable them to grow financially.
“Let us borrow money for doing business and save the profit for further investments. This is the only way of achieving economic prosperity,” she said.
Ida urged women to avoid spending too much money on beauty and entertainment, arguing that money spent on recurrent expenditure should be less than the cash spent on development.
“Do not spend all your money on buying clothes you want to put on to go and visit the parents of your daughter in-law or son in-law. You can only spend a little percentage of your money and invest the larger portion on development,” she advised.
She further challenged locals to utilise their fertile land for food production. “Ndhiwa is an area with fertile soil for crop production. Let’s use utilise the land well to boost food security,” she said.
Homa Bay Woman Rep Joyce Osogo urged women to be committed to wealth creation so as to enable them transform their livelihoods.
Osogo said her office had built an ultra modern market at Ratang’a trading centre to uplift living standards of women.
“My officer in collaboration with the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) has built this ultra modern market to enable our women to create wealth,” Dr Osogo said.