Raila Amollo Odinga has left an indelible legacy. The news of his loss has profoundly thrown Kenyans across the country and the entire world into immeasurable pain.
Odinga, the son to the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga,the husband to Ida Odinga has been the most resilient, influential and enduring political figure despite five unsuccessful presidential bids in the years 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022.
Emerging as a go-getter, staunch fighter who championed for multi-party democracy and the amendment of the 2010 new constitution, Odinga was clearly the most sought after opposition leader who tightly kept the government in check.
Raila, died on Wednesday morning October 15, 2025 at the age of 80, after suffering a cardiac arrest while having walk within the Indian hospital where he had gone to receive treatment
Agwambo, the PAn -Africanist has left a legacy and a paramount void in Kenya’s opposition as the country nears the 2027 elections.
For five times, he vied for presidency but he unsuccessfully clinched the seat with his latest attempt being in the year 2022 when he picked Martha Karua as his running mate having been fronted by Kenya’s fourth president Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, a son to the first president Jommo Kenyatta.
He lost the bid to the incumbent president William Ruto whom they both formed a broad based government last year leading to four members of Odinga’s ODM party being appointed to cabinet positions.
Early 2008, he nearly bagged the presidential seat when he again lost to Emilio Mwai Kibaki, the third president of Kenya. He was later appointed as prime minister in a coalition government following a mediation truce led by former UN secretary Kofia Annan.
Known for his mediation deals, he successfully entered into a hand-shake in 2018 with former president Uhuru Kenyatta who later endorsed him as his preferred presidential candidate.
Early this year, Odinga braced himself for the African Union Commission seat with the support of President William Ruto. However, he backed out in a move that saw Djibouti’s foreign affairs minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf take the lead.
Irrespective of his struggles politically, Odinga remained relevant and the most influential figure proven as the most sought after opposition leader by the successive Kenyan presidents.
In the recent past, during the Gen-Z movement, the anti-government finance bill protests, Baba came face with tough criticism with many accusing him of not calling out on the government for betraying its citizens.
In his early political years, Odinga suffered major blows in the hands of the second president Daniel Toroitich arap Moi. He was arrested in 1982 and detained for six years until 1988 for attempted coup . He was again detained in 1989 to 1991 for challenging one party rule by advocating for pluralism.
Odinga the beloved husband to Ida and together they have four children – the late Fidel, Rosemary, Raila Junior and Winnie.
