Death of prominent leaders that marked end of eras in Kenya

This was followed by the death of the founding Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in 1994.

On February 4, 2020, just before Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic, Kenya’s second independence president, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, died at 95 years, his death signalling the end of an era for a man nicknamed the Professor of Kenyan politics.

However, the death of Raila Odinga, the son of Jaramogi, on October 15, 2025, aged 80, shook the political landscape that was accustomed to a man who went with so many political names—Enigma, Agwambo, Arap Mibei, Njamba, Tinga, Nyundo, Jakom and Baba.

Raila, Kenya’s undisputed hero of the second liberation struggle, was a man that Kenya never had as president, notwithstanding the five attempts—1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022. His defeat on some occasions was blamed on electoral manipulation despite his unmatched popularity across the country.

However, in death, Odinga got military honours complete with a 17-gun salute to honour the departed hero, unlike his late father, Jaramogi, who was not even accorded a State funeral despite having served as the country’s first Vice President.

And President William Ruto on Sunday acknowledged that there was resistance within government circles to accord Odinga a State funeral with military honours since he never became president.

But a towering figure in Kenya’s political scene, Odinga, who, although never rising to power, struck deals with then presidents Moi, Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and Dr Ruto, which saw him get into the inner sanctums of power, the former prime minister’s influence in shaping the Kenyan state saw him accorded the honours.

From a political detainee, Odinga went on to build a fanatical movement around him, forging what is arguably the longest popular party, ODM, which coincidentally marks its 20th anniversary next month, a party around which many have built their political careers.

The Lang’ata MP went on to serve as prime minister in a grand coalition government with President Kibaki between 2008 and 2013—the highest post in government that he ever held until his death.

The son of Jaramogi rose to the public limelight and the political scene as a political detainee after he was linked to the failed 1982 coup by the disgruntled Kenya Air Force officers, becoming the country’s most consequential political figure after the late Moi.

The coup attempt was designed to depose then-President Moi.

Odinga, being at the centre of power even though he never became president, was a highly influential figure in Kenyan politics, known for his decades-long fight for democracy, human rights, and constitutional reform that led him to rub the government figures the wrong way.

An opposition leader in Kenyan politics, Odinga played a significant role in shaping the country’s politics, specifically pushing for the rights of the common people as well as the political reforms.

As the country paid its last respects to Odinga before his interment on Sunday, President Ruto, former President Kenyatta, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka eulogised Odinga as a great leader.

Describing Odinga as a mentor, President Ruto said Kenya had lost a great hero, “a man made through the fabric of struggle”.

“Raila is fondly referred to as the people’s president. We honour him with a lot of respect because of his contribution to the nation. I can confidently say that Raila was not just an engineer but a political engineer,” said President Ruto.

“Yours truly, William Ruto was one of his students in political engineering. He mentored me.”

Read: Raila’s dream of factory wealth

It is not disputed that Odinga was a highly influential figure in Kenyan politics, known for his decades-long fight for democracy, human rights and constitutional reforms that ultimately yielded a new constitution that was promulgated on August 27, 2010.

Born on January 7, 1945, Raila spent years in detention and exile for his activism against former President Moi’s regime.

Former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi writes that “while we may have differed with Raila politically at various points, I have always respected his tenacity and deep love for the country.

“For decades, Raila Odinga stood at the heart of Kenya’s struggle for freedom, reform, and inclusion. His journey, marked by sacrifice, resilience, and an unrelenting belief in the promise of this nation, inspired millions across generations,” said Mr Muturi.

Acknowledging that few men “have so profoundly shaped Kenya’s democratic space or borne its burdens with such resolve, Raila’s passing leaves a void not just in politics, but in the conscience of our nation”.

“Raila’s legacy will endure in our institutions, in our freedoms, and in the hearts of all who believe in the dream of a just and united Kenya,” notes Mr Muturi.

Retired President Obasanjo noted that “one thing you could not take away from Raila was his passionate love for his country and Africa.”

“It is what made him grow from strength to strength in his political career,” said former President Obasanjo.

The retired President Obasanjo was among those who attended the meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, that brought President Ruto and Odinga together after the closely contested August 2022 presidential election, which led to the formation of the broad-based government in 2024.

President Ruto and Odinga were close rivals in the 2022 General Election.

“Tolerance is a lesson of love. Raila tolerated accommodation. It’s a lesson we must learn from him. I have lost a brother, a friend and a confidant,” said Mr Obasanjo.

Odinga was a towering figure, a veteran politician, and a champion of democracy who left an indelible mark on Kenya’s history.

As a key figure in the opposition movement, Odinga played a significant role in shaping Kenya’s democratic journey, advocating for human rights and pushing for electoral reforms. Retired President Kenyatta, referring to Odinga as a close friend, said his loss presents the country with a huge challenge.

“We will miss Raila as a leader of this nation. His thoughtfulness, his freedom and those good virtues will always be remembered,” said immediate former President Uhuru, with Mr Kalonzo remembering the late Odinga as the father of democracy.

“Raila was the epitome of the struggle for justice and the fight against corruption,” said Mr Musyoka, adding that “despite the pain of a stolen election, he was very accommodating”.

“Raila was a patriot who fought for justice, equity and unity even in the face of adversity,” said former President Uhuru, without forgetting their fierce political battles and later ended in friendship- the handshake in 2018 on the stairs of Harambee House, the official office of the President.

However, as the country and Africa bade Odinga goodbye, in his 43 years after the failed coup, he never revealed his role in the failed 1982 coup, even in his biography: Raila Odinga, an Enigma in Kenya Politics by Nigerian author and lawyer Dr Babafemi Badejo, launched in 2006.

The matter, which landed Odinga in detention thrice, has been mentioned as a passing cloud.

He had promised to give more details of the failed coup in a book he promised to churn out, but never did so until his death.

However, in his autobiography, The Flame of Freedom, released in 2013, he revealed that his role was merely “peripheral.”

Interestingly, despite the detentions, Odinga was never charged with the failed coup attempt.

The question that remains unanswered and which follows Raila to the grave was whether his failure to be prosecuted was a political deal with the late Moi.

Unlike his former colleague in detention- former Subukia MP Koigi Wamwere, Raila also never produced his detention diary.

In the book; Raila Odinga, an enigma in Kenya Politics, Raila reveals that the coup plotters sought and got the blessings of Jaramogi and that he set up a communication centre at an apartment on Ngong road from where he and the plotters monitored events.

When the Raila Biography was released figures like former Internal Cabinet Minister Chris Murungaru were quick to call for Raila to be tried for treason and that if convicted, hanged as provided for in the law.

“Raila is a dangerous person and he has declared himself to be so,” Dr Murangaru said immediately the book was launched as he asked legal experts to scrutinize the book for action telling Raila not to disown the contents “since he must have sanctioned every word and was present at the launch.”

Other than Dr Murungaru, then retired President the late Moi told his Kalenjin community to “be wary” of Mr Raila’s antics because his biography had exposed his true character.

Speaking in the Kalenjin dialect, Moi said; “you can now read the kind of person the man of the lake is.”

But Raila immediately hit back at those calling for his arrest saying that what he expected was an intellectual debate by people who had read the book and not wild allegations that could not be substantiated.

“What I want is intellectual discourse from people who have read this book and not unfounded allegations. I will only respond to reasoned critique over the issues in the book,” Raila said then.

Then Nyakach MP Peter Odoyo, was among the MPs who defended Raila saying the book was not an autobiography and that “the views expressed in it represented the assessment of the author and did not come directly from Raila.”

In page 94 of Raila’s biography, Raila comes out vaguely as neither denying nor confirming having actively participated in the 1982 failed coup.

However, in his autobiography; The Flame of Freedom, released in 2013, Raila says that he played only a “peripheral role” in the attempted coup.

“The publication of a biography of me in 2006, where the writer intimated a peripheral role for me in the coup attempt, caused a vindictive outcry- indicating that freedom of speech is, at the time I tell this, my story, as shackled as ever in our country,” he said in 2013.

As the country bids Raila, the enigma of Kenya politics goodbye, his friend in the liberation struggle Senior Counsel Paul Muite said that “the fallen hero” will always be remembered for the democratic space that the country continues to enjoy.

“Raila will always be remembered for his immense contribution for justice in our motherland- detentions, torture and exile,” said SC Muite adding; “we have now handed the baton for the unfinished business to the current generation.”

Mr Muite was so close to the Odingas. He Muite and the Odingas have had a long history of collaboration in politics and beyond.

He Muite served with Raila and his father in the National Assembly on the opposition benches.

He was also Jaramogi’s close ally and was his Vice Chairman in the Ford-Kenya party and during the 2022 Presidential election petition at the Supreme Court, he represented then Raila’s Azimio coalition to challenge the declaration of President William Ruto as the winner of the presidential election.

Former Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara who served with Raila and Jaramogi in the National Assembly, notes that “some lives speak for themselves.”

“They do not want to be celebrated. They are lived out loud, with conviction and cost, shaped by purpose and defined by endurance. The life of Raila Odinga is one of these,” Mr Imanyara, Raila’s comrade in the struggle movement, said.

“For those of us who have walked beside him, not in ceremony but in resistance, his journey is one we carry not only in memory but in bone,” added the former Imenti Central MP.

Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, the Kisumu County governor, Raila’s colleague in the second liberation struggle said that without Raila, the country may not have realized the 2010 constitution.

“The Nation was ready for change and Baba was for that change. He was instrumental in pushing for devolution of power and resources,” said Governor Prof Nyong’o.

Siaya County Governor James Orengo, who was also in the trenches with Raila in the fight for second liberation did not fail to recognise the befitting send-off Raila was accorded.

“This is the first State funeral with military honours in the Nyanza region. We lost prominent leaders from this region- Jaramogi, Tom Mboya, Dr Robert Ouko but their sendoff never came close to this. But this is the first,” said Governor Orengo.

“What did Raila really stand for? Many came and fell by the wayside but Raila stood. He was a fighter for democracy. There are those who lead political parties and have abused Raila without knowing that without Raila, they would not be leading those parties,” added Governor Orengo.

According to Governor Orengo, Raila was courageous.

“In 2017 when his votes were stolen, he decided that he will be the people’s president. Before you open your mouth to speak against Raila, remember what he stood for and what he fought for. He was a peacemaker- as you can see that even in his death, he has brought President Ruto and Uhuru together,” said Governor Orengo.

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