Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a prominent figure in the fight for democracy across Africa, has passed away at the age of 80. Odinga died on Wednesday of a heart attack while traveling in India. His death was confirmed by Devamatha Hospital in Kerala State, where he was taken after collapsing during a morning walk. Despite resuscitation efforts, he did not respond.
His home in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, soon became a gathering place for mourners, including national leaders, who came to pay their respects. Many tributes highlighted his unwavering commitment to democracy.
President William Ruto announced a seven-day mourning period, during which national flags will fly at half-staff, describing Odinga’s death as an “immense and immeasurable loss.” Ruto also stated that Odinga would be honored with a state funeral.
Recently, Odinga had signed a political agreement with Ruto, allowing his opposition party to participate in government policymaking and appointing its members to the cabinet. However, his long-standing ambition was to become Kenya’s president, and he ran for the office five times over three decades, often garnering significant support that led many to believe he could prevail.
He came closest to the presidency in 2007, narrowly losing to incumbent Mwai Kibaki in a controversial election fraught with ethnic violence. In 2017, after a successful legal challenge to the presidential election—an unprecedented move in Africa—Odinga chose to boycott the subsequent vote, arguing it would lack credibility without electoral reforms.
Though he never achieved his presidential aspirations, Odinga remained a revered figure and statesman for many, whose activism played a crucial role in guiding Kenya towards a vibrant multiparty democracy.
Odinga, a prominent figure from the Luo ethnic group in western Nyanza province, reached the pinnacle of his political career during the 2007 presidential election. He garnered support from leaders of various tribes and attracted large crowds at his campaign events.
Despite Kibaki, from the Kikuyu ethnic group, achieving favorable economic indicators during his first term, his administration faced significant challenges due to corruption scandals. The official results revealed a near tie — Odinga received 44% of the vote, while Kibaki secured 46%, marking one of the closest elections in Kenyan history.
Odinga’s camp rejected these results, citing a lack of trust in the electoral authority, whose leader later admitted uncertainty over the legitimacy of Kibaki’s victory. Protests erupted in Nairobi almost immediately following Kibaki’s inauguration, and violence soon spread across the country, with ethnic groups targeting each other: Luos and Kalenjins attacked Kikuyus, who in turn organized reprisal assaults.
The violence resulted in hundreds of deaths, undermining Kenya’s image as a stable democracy in a tumultuous region. While Odinga was never accused of inciting this violence, others, including future presidents Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, faced such allegations. They, along with three others, were among six suspects who confronted criminal charges related to the post-election violence when the International Criminal Court initiated its investigation in 2010.
Ultimately, the case failed to produce any successful prosecutions, with many charges withdrawn, terminated, or dismissed amid allegations of witness intimidation and political interference. Following this period of turmoil, Odinga was appointed prime minister in a coalition government formed with the assistance of international mediation.
Raila Amolo Odinga was born on January 7, 1945, in Kisumu, a city located on the shores of Lake Victoria near the border with Uganda. He is the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who served as Kenya’s first vice president. Raila attended local schools before leaving to study engineering in East Germany. Upon his return to Kenya in the 1970s, he taught at the University of Nairobi and launched several businesses, including a successful venture selling liquid petroleum gas cylinders.
Odinga gained prominence as a political activist during the 1980s, when he fought against the one-party rule of President Daniel arap Moi. His name was associated with a failed coup attempt by a group of air force officers who sought to seize power in 1982. Some of the coup leaders were convicted of treason and executed, and during the interrogations of suspects, the names of Odinga and his father were mentioned. Although he was accused of treason, the charges were eventually dropped, but Odinga spent much of the following decade in detention.
Odinga shared his experiences of harsh imprisonment and alleged torture, including an incident where a police officer assaulted him with a wooden table leg. He emphasized that, although he had been active in educating and mobilizing the public to bring about change in Kenya during the coup attempt, he had never promoted violence. After his release, he briefly sought refuge in Europe in 1991.
In 1992, Odinga returned to Kenya and secured a seat in the national assembly as an opposition lawmaker representing a Nairobi constituency. He garnered significant support from those disillusioned by widespread corruption and poverty.
In 2001, he accepted a position within the government as Moi’s energy minister, while also attempting to secure the ruling party’s nomination for the presidential ticket. He played a pivotal role in the ascent of Kibaki, an economist lacking in public appeal, whom he supported during the 2002 presidential election—a race that would later set the stage for his rivalry with Kibaki in the contentious 2007 election.
As he aged, Odinga appeared increasingly drowsy at campaign rallies, yet he never seemed to lose his enthusiasm for politics. Even some of his opponents acknowledged his exceptional mobilization skills.
In 2017, following the loss of his fourth presidential campaign, he spoke to The Associated Press about civil disobedience, asserting that street protests are a democratic tool permitted by the country’s constitution. “If a regime is undemocratic, if a regime does not enjoy legitimacy, the people are justified in resisting that regime,” he stated.
Odinga’s most recent presidential campaign took place in 2022, where he was backed by outgoing President Kenyatta in a contest against Ruto. Once again, he faced defeat, claiming he had been cheated out of victory and subsequently initiating a series of street protests.
Earlier in 2025, he also lost a bid to become the executive head of the African Union Commission, which governs the African Union.
Credit: AP