NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya’s veteran opposition leader and former prime minister Raila Amolo Odinga has died Wednesday in India at age 80 after suffering a cardiac arrest during a morning walk at an Ayurvedic treatment facility in Kerala’s Koothattukulam town.
Doctors at Devamatha Hospital in Ernakulam district confirmed he was pronounced dead shortly after being brought in.
Born on Jan. 7, 1945, in Maseno, western Kenya, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country’s first vice president.
Over five decades, Odinga became one of East Africa’s most influential and enduring political figures. He led Kenya’s pro-democracy movement that ended one-party rule in 1991 and played a key role in drafting the nation’s 2010 constitution.
A trained engineer who studied in East Germany, Odinga served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 under a power-sharing deal following the post-election crisis that left more than 1,000 people dead.
He ran unsuccessfully for president five times — in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 — but remained the face of Kenya’s opposition and a powerful voice for reform.
Odinga was detained for six years in the 1980s under President Daniel arap Moi’s regime, accused of plotting to overthrow the government.
His later alliances and reform campaigns turned him into a central figure in Kenya’s push for constitutional change, economic justice, and good governance.
He is survived by his wife, Ida Odinga, and their children.
Leaders from across Africa and beyond paid tribute, calling him a “champion of democracy” and a statesman whose impact extended far beyond Kenya’s borders.
