Kenya is mourning the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 80, after suffering a heart attack in India.
Odinga, a towering figure in East African politics and a relentless advocate for multiparty democracy, died at Devamatha Hospital in Kerala after collapsing during a morning walk. His passing drew national grief, with President William Ruto declaring a seven-day mourning period and ordering flags to fly at half-staff.
Tributes from across the political divide hailed Odinga’s lifelong dedication to democratic ideals and his enduring influence on Kenya’s governance, even after forming a recent political pact with President Ruto.
Odinga’s political journey was marked by both triumph and turbulence. He ran for president five times but never secured victory, coming closest in the disputed 2007 election that plunged the nation into deadly ethnic clashes. Despite the turmoil, he became prime minister in a unity government that emerged from international mediation. His challenges to electoral irregularities and his role in the 2017 annulment of the presidential results — a historic first in Africa — cemented his reputation as a defender of democratic integrity. While critics often portrayed him as polarising, Odinga remained an emblem of resilience, his political life defined by an unyielding pursuit of justice and reform.
Born in 1945 in Kisumu, Raila Odinga inherited a legacy of political struggle from his father, Kenya’s first vice president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. Educated in East Germany, he returned to Kenya to teach engineering and later became a fierce opponent of Daniel arap Moi’s one-party rule.
Accused of treason following a failed 1982 coup attempt, Odinga endured years of imprisonment and torture before going into exile and later returning to spearhead Kenya’s democratic revival. His charisma, oratory, and deep connection with ordinary Kenyans made him a symbol of endurance and transformation — a man whose political vision outlived his presidential ambitions.