Kenya’s former Prime Minister, prominent opposition leader and Orange Democratic Movement party leader, Raila Odinga, has died.
Raila passed on while receiving treatment in India yesterday. His death puts to rest weeks of secrecy and speculation about his health. Kenya has lost a great leader, a man who seemed larger than life and walked our political landscape like a colossus.
Raila came to the national limelight after he was arrested and charged with treason for his perceived role in the 1982 attempted coup, for which he served a nine-year prison term. Indisputably, Raila is among the fathers of Kenyan democracy having, in 1991, played a crucial role in the repeal of Section 2A of the Constitution that allowed multi-party democracy. His push for democratic space also contributed largely to the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010
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Kenya has lost an illustrious and industrious son who spent most of his life fighting for the rights of ordinary citizens. All his political life, from the time he served as MP for Kibera between 1992 and 2013, to the time he served as Prime Minister between 2008 and 2013, to date, Raila dedicated his life to articulating issues dear to the common man.
It has not been smooth sailing, though. Raila first contested for the presidency in 1997, but lost. In 2002, he threw his weight behind Mwai Kibaki with his ‘Kibaki tosha’ declaration. He again tried his luck at becoming the country’s top executive in 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022, but always lost controversially.
When Raila disputed the 2007 presidential election results, the country was plunged into chaos that claimed at least 1,300 lives. He again disputed the 2017 presidential election results and proceeded to swear himself in as the people’s president in 2018 at Uhuru Park.
Yet despite being the aggrieved party, Raila had the knack of turning around tides when matters threatened to get out of hand. His now famous handshakes with presidents, first with Mwai Kibaki (2008), Uhuru Kenyatta (2018) and William Ruto (2024), pulled the country back from the brink of collapse.
But while many have applauded the handshakes as selfless, others have seen them as Raila’s way of worming his way into government for personal gain. However, irrespective of the divergent views, the handshakes have always defused political tension and stabilised the ship of state.
For Raila, it has been an arduous journey of pain and suffering, but he never gave up the struggle. As the fearless defender of citizens’ rights that he rightfully was, Raila always kept the government of the day on its toes with demands of accountability.
He inspired both hate, respect and awe. Raila was fondly known as ‘Baba’, ‘Wuod Omollo’, ‘Agwambo’, ‘Tinga’ and ‘the Enigma’. Our politicians have a lot to learn from this man who dedicated his life to fighting for good governance. The Opposition, which is a critical component of any functional democracy, should embrace values that Raila stood for and continue executing the Opposition’s role of holding the government to account. Kenya is poorer without Raila. May his soul rest in peace.
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By Editorial