Kenya’s veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has died at the age of 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment. According to the hospital in Kochi, Odinga suffered a cardiac arrest.
A towering figure in Kenyan politics for decades, Odinga was imprisoned multiple times during his struggle against one-party rule and contested the presidency five times without success. Despite the defeats, he remained a central force in the nation’s political landscape — forming alliances with former rivals, serving as prime minister, and earning deep loyalty from his supporters, particularly among the Luo community.
Nicknamed “Agwambo” (“the mysterious one” in Luo) and affectionately called “Baba” (“father” in Swahili), Odinga inspired both admiration and controversy. Many hailed him as a democracy icon, while critics accused him of fueling ethnic divisions or pursuing personal power through political deals.
News of his death sparked an emotional outpouring across the country. In Nairobi’s Kibera — his long-time political base — hundreds of mourners marched toward his family home in Karen, waving twigs and chanting his name. Similar gatherings were reported in Kisumu and Eldoret.
Odinga’s political legacy is intertwined with Kenya’s major democratic milestones — from the return to multiparty politics in 1991 to the adoption of a new constitution in 2010. He was also at the center of the post-election violence of 2007, when clashes between his Luo supporters and then-President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu base left over 1,300 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The son of Kenya’s first vice president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila inherited his father’s political zeal and rivalry with the Kenyatta family. Despite his elite background, he began his career as a left-wing reformist, even naming his son Fidel after Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.
Odinga spent nine years in detention, six of them in solitary confinement, following a failed coup attempt in 1982 against President Daniel arap Moi. “Detention is a good school,” he told Reuters in 2007. “You learn to reflect, to forgive, and to be tolerant.”
His long political career was marked by resilience and pragmatism — forming and breaking alliances as the political tides shifted. After the disputed 2007 elections, he became prime minister in a unity government with Kibaki. A decade later, following another tense election, he reconciled with President Uhuru Kenyatta in the historic “Handshake” of 2018.
Although he lost the 2022 election to William Ruto, Odinga remained active in opposition until 2024, when he once again reached a political truce with the government.
President Ruto announced a state funeral and seven days of national mourning, praising Odinga as a “champion of reforms” whose “voice spoke for the oppressed and whose conviction inspired generations.”
Tributes poured in from across Africa. African Union Commission head Mahmoud Ali Youssouf described him as “a steadfast champion of democracy, good governance, and people-centred development.”
Among Kenyans, however, views on his legacy remain mixed. “May his fight for democracy continue to inspire our leaders,” said Nairobi resident Grace Mbugua. But others, like accountant Patrick Mungai, reflected more critically: “He may not have had the best interests of all Kenyans at all times — and in his struggle for democracy, many lives were lost.”
Raila Odinga’s life — marked by courage, controversy, and conviction — leaves behind an indelible mark on Kenya’s democratic journey.
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