Kenya Mourns as Veteran Opposition Leader Raila Odinga Dies Aged 80
Kenya is in mourning after the death of the expert opposition leader, Raila Odinga, aged 80. Known for his decades-long struggle against one-party rule and his five unprofitable presidential flings, Odinga passed away while entering medical treatment in India.
A family source verified to Reuters that he’d failed in a sanitarium. The Kochi Medical centre reported he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Odinga was a towering figure in Kenyan politics. He forged alliances with former adversaries, served a term as high minister, and commanded unwavering fidelity from his sympathizers, particularly among the Luo community in western Kenya and Nairobi.
His knack for bridging political divides earned him the surname “Agwambo”, “mysterious one” in Luo.
On Wednesday, President William Ruto visited the Odinga family home in the affluent Karen suburb of Nairobi.
Odinga’s followers called him “Baba”, father in Swahili. They stood by him through accusations of exploiting ethnic tensions and of striking deals with opponents for political gain.
As news of his death spread, hundreds of sympathizers from the Kibera slum marched to his home. Numerous wept. Some carried outgrowths to shield against bad spirits. A robotic procession formed, a testament to his enduring influence.
Odinga’s political heritage is monumental. He was a republican activist whose sweat helped bring Kenya a multiparty republic in 1991 and a new constitution in 2010.
He led demurrers following the disputed 2007 election that touched off Kenya’s worst political violence since independence. About 1,300 people failed, and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
The uneasiness leveled the western Luo community against President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnical group, the country’s largest and most economically important. Violence also broke out after the 2017 election.
In 2017, Odinga reflected on these tensions: “Each community believes that they are not safe unless their man is at the top.”
Raila Odinga was the son of Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice-president under independence leader Jomo Kenyatta. The political contest of the fathers continued into the coming generation.
Despite growing up in a fat family, Odinga was a left- sect activist from a young age. He named his son Fidel after Cuban leader Fidel Castro, signaling his political leanings.
He first faced imprisonment in 1982 after a failed attempt against also-President Daniel Arap Moi. Odinga endured nine years in jail, six of them in solitary confinement. During that time, he became a symbol of resistance against oppression.
Odinga’s death marks the end of a period in Kenyan politics. His impact on the republic, indigenous reform, and public identity will be flashed back for generations.
