NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Raila Odingaformer prime minister kenya and a populist campaign that challenged one-party rule and swayed the authorities, giving him the eternal presidential candidate outsized influence He spoke about his political activities in the East African country and died Wednesday of a heart attack while on a trip to India. He was 80 years old.
He was pronounced dead at Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, where he was taken after collapsing during a morning walk. A hospital statement said Odinga did not respond to resuscitation efforts.
A gloomy scene unfolded at his home in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where national leaders were among the mourners. His commitment to democracy was mentioned in the obituary.
President William Ruto called Odinga’s death an “incalculable and incalculable loss” and declared a seven-day mourning period during which the national flag would be flown at half-staff. Ruto said Odinga will be given a state funeral.
Mr. Odinga recently signed a political agreement with Mr. Ruto in which the opposition party will be involved in government policy-making and its members will be appointed to cabinet.
But his ambition was to become Kenya’s president, and he ran for office five times in 30 years, sometimes with such support that many believed he might win.
He came close to winning the presidency in 2007, but narrowly lost to incumbent Mwai Kibaki in a disputed election marred by ethnic violence. And in 2017, the court invalidated the presidential election This was the first of its kind in Africa, but after Mr Odinga’s challenge, they decided to boycott the new vote, arguing that without reforms the vote could not be trusted.
Although Odinga never became president, to many he was a respected figure and politician whose work helped lead Kenya to a vibrant, multiparty democracy.
Violence erupted after running for president in 2007
Odinga, a member of the Luo tribe in western Nyanza province, reached the pinnacle of his political career in the 2007 presidential election, winning the support of other tribal leaders and drawing large crowds to campaign events.
Mr Kibaki, a Kikuyu, posted good economic data during his first term, but his government was weakened by corruption scandals. The official result (44% for Odinga to 46% for Kibaki) was the closest margin in Kenya’s history.
Odinga’s camp rejected the results, due in part to unreliable election officials, and its leaders later said they did not know whether Kibaki had won.
Protests erupted in Nairobi shortly after Kibaki took office, with people targeted based on ethnicity, and violence spread to other parts of Kenya. The Luos and Kalenjin targeted the Kikuyu, who mobilized retaliatory attacks.
Days of violence left hundreds of people dead and shattered Kenya’s status as a stable democracy in a volatile region.
Odinga was never charged with inciting violence, but others, including future presidents Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, were. They were among six suspects facing criminal charges in connection with the post-election violence when the International Criminal Court launched an investigation in 2010.
The case was never successfully prosecuted, with charges dropped, dropped, or dismissed amid claims of witness intimidation and political interference.
After the turmoil, Odinga became prime minister of a national unity government mediated by the international community.
Early activities, detention and exile
Raila Amolo Odinga was born on January 7, 1945 in Kisumu, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria near the border with Uganda.
The son of Kenya’s first vice president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, he attended local schools before leaving to study engineering in East Germany. Upon his return in the 1970s, he taught at the University of Nairobi and started various businesses, including a successful sale of liquid petroleum gas cylinders.
Odinga first rose to prominence in the 1980s as a political activist fighting against President Daniel arap Moi’s one-party rule. He was implicated in an attempted coup attempt by a group of air force officers to seize power in 1982.
Some of the coup leaders were convicted of treason and executed, and Odinga and his father’s names also came up during the interrogation of some of the suspects. Odinga accused of treasonAlthough the charges were subsequently dropped, he spent most of the next ten years in custody.
Odinga described the harsh conditions of his imprisonment and allegations of torture, including assaults by police officers who hit him with wooden table legs. He claimed at the time of the coup attempt that he was involved in educating and mobilizing people to bring about change in Kenya, but that he had never advocated violence.
After his release, he briefly went into exile in Europe in 1991.
Return to Kenya and politics
Mr. Odinga returned to Kenya in 1992 and won a seat in parliament as an opposition lawmaker representing the Nairobi constituency, gaining huge support among the people dissatisfied with government corruption and poverty.
In 2001 he accepted a government post as Minister of Energy in the Moi government, but unsuccessfully sought a ticket as the ruling party’s standard bearer.
He was instrumental in the rise of Kibaki, an unpopular economist whom he supported in the 2002 presidential election and rival in the disputed 2007 election.
Despite growing older and appearing sleepy at campaign rallies, Odinga never seemed to lose his enthusiasm for politics, and even some of his rivals acknowledged that he was a great mobilizing force.
In 2017, Odinga told The Associated Press about civil disobedience after losing his fourth presidential election, calling street protests a constitutionally recognized democratic measure.
“If a regime is undemocratic and does not enjoy legitimacy, then the people are justified in resisting that regime,” he said.
Odinga’s last presidential campaign was in 2022, when he ran against Ruto with support from outgoing President Kenyatta. He lost again and continued claims he was cheated of victoryand sparked a wave of street protests.
In early 2025, he lost his bid to become executive chairman of the African Union Commission, which runs the continental division of the African Union.
Odinga’s survivors include his wife, Aida.
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Muhumuza contributed from Kampala, Uganda.
