Wednesday, October 15, 2025-Raila Odinga, Kenya’s former Prime Minister and one of Africa’s most influential champions of democracy, has died at the age of 80. According to officials, Odinga passed away at Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, India, after suffering a cardiac arrest during his morning walk.
His death marks the end of an era in Kenyan politics and the loss of a leader whose career spanned six decades of struggle, reform, and resilience.
Born in 1945, Odinga was the son of Kenya’s first vice president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and became a central figure in the country’s fight against one-party rule. He spent years in detention for his political activism and was instrumental in ushering in Kenya’s multi-party democracy in the 1990s. Despite losing multiple presidential elections, his influence never waned.
Odinga’s leadership of the opposition, his calls for electoral justice, and his role in uniting rival factions after the 2007 post-election crisis earned him a reputation as both a reformist and a national reconciler.
Odinga served as Kenya’s Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 in a power-sharing government that sought to stabilize the country after deadly unrest. Even in his later years, he remained active in public life, forming a political partnership with President William Ruto in 2025 to promote unity and economic reform.
Tributes have poured in from across Africa and beyond, honoring Odinga as a steadfast advocate for democracy, a fearless voice for justice, and a statesman whose vision helped shape modern Kenya.
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