Raila Odinga’s eldest daughter, Rosemary, is currently in India, where she is undergoing medical procedures to cure her eyesight problem.
The mother of two flew to India in company of her dad last week for the treatment of the problem that has troubled her since 2017 at the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Center in Koothattukulam, India.
Rosemary developed the eyesight problem after suffering a stroke in February 2017. As a result of the stroke, she went blind and only regained sight partially in 2019. Previously, she underwent treatment in China and South Africa but she was unable to fully regain her sight until her family discovered the ayurvedic treatment in India and she has been responding to treatment very well.
Despite the challenge, Rosemary still manages to run her own life to ensure that she is not dependent on her dad’s millions for survival or inheritance.
The 44-year old has already set herself an empire that she would probably leave for her daughters as inheritance.
Rosemary is a snail-farmer and the only one in East Africa, a venture she began in 2007. She rears snails in a 25-acre piece of land that is located in Kiserian.
Before she engaged in this kind of farming, she widely consulted experts where she gathered knowledge on the different types of snails, breeding, characteristics and behaviors as well as their environmental preference.
“Before I started, I had gone to Nigeria where I had the privilege of visiting former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo. He is one of the biggest snail farmers there. He is the one who challenged me to think about farming. He was so convincing with the snail farming, I promised to do something when I came back home,” she said in a previous interview.
Her snail farm grew from thirteen giant African land snails that were donated to her by Musombi, who was a snails expert at the university of Nairobi.
She set-up a greenhouse for the snails to provide a favorable environment for them to multiply and currently she has more than three thousand snails.
In her farming, she does not use the ordinary soil, but purchases soil that has been treated. The soil is then enriched and moist for the snails to survive. They mostly feed on cabbages, pawpaw and kales.
Since the snails are treated as a delicacy in some communities and countries, Rosemary set up a company identified as Shelltops Limited where she works with French restaurants in making deliveries.
Aside from being a snail farmer, Rosemary is also a vegetable farmer. She recently wowed Kenyans by sharing photos of her huge farm where she grows different kinds of vegetables ranging from cabbages, onions and even the traditional ones hence being crowned a true mama mboga.
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