Raila Odinga, Kenya’s longtime opposition leader and former Prime Minister, died Wednesday at the age of 80 after collapsing during a morning walk while undergoing medical treatment in India.
Odinga died from cardiac failure at the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital in Kerala, where he was being treated following a minor stroke earlier this month.
He had arrived in India on October 4, first receiving care in Mumbai before being transferred to Kerala.
He was accompanied by his daughter, Rosemary Odinga, and his personal physician.
Referred to affectionately as “Baba,” Odinga was seen by many as a champion of democracy and reform. His sudden death triggered a wave of grief across Kenya and Africa, with tributes pouring in from leaders and citizens alike.
Born in 1945 in Kisumu County, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President.
He trained as a mechanical engineer in East Germany before founding East African Spectre, a gas-cylinder manufacturing company.
He entered politics in the 1980s, opposing President Daniel Arap Moi’s one-party rule, and endured several years in detention without trial.
Odinga played a key role in Kenya’s transition to multiparty democracy and ran for president five times.
His 2007 electoral loss led to post-election violence, but he joined a power-sharing deal with President Mwai Kibaki, serving as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013.
The coalition government led to the adoption of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution.
Beyond Kenya, Odinga served as the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure and was appointed in 2025 by President William Ruto to mediate the South Sudan crisis.
Ruto called him “a colossus whose footsteps echo through our history.” In Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa, crowds gathered chanting “Baba” in tribute.
He is survived by his wife, Ida Betty Odinga, and their children.
NAIROBI, Kenya – Bantu Gazette
