Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died on the age of 80, household sources have advised the BBC.
Odinga died on Wednesday whereas receiving medical remedy at a hospital in India. He collapsed throughout a morning stroll and was taken to Devamatha Hospital, which stated he had suffered a cardiac arrest. It stated he didn’t reply to resuscitation measures and was “declared useless at 09:52” native time (04:22 GMT).
In latest weeks, there was hypothesis about his well being, though members of the family and political allies had dismissed experiences suggesting he was critically in poor health.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta – a long-time rival – stated Odinga’s loss of life had “left a silence that echoes throughout our nation”.
Different Kenyan politicians and world leaders have been sending their condolences, together with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described Odinga as a “towering statesman and a cherished good friend of India”.
His supporters have been pouring onto the streets to mourn, particularly in his political strongholds of western Kenya and components of Nairobi.
A political mobiliser and towering determine in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency 5 occasions. He rejected the outcomes on every event, usually saying that victory had been stolen from him.
He was vindicated by Kenya’s highest court docket after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory and ordered recent polls. Nevertheless, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.
The disputed election of 2007, by which Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the largest disaster in Kenya’s historical past.
Violence erupted across the nation, leading to 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 folks had been pressured to flee their houses.
To resolve the disaster, a power-sharing settlement was brokered by former UN Secretary-Common Kofi Annan, resulting in the formation of a unity authorities by which Odinga turned prime minister.
He has usually reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.
After his most up-to-date defeat in 2022, he later joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad-based authorities, which introduced a number of of his allies into key positions.
He defended the transfer as needed for nationwide unity, coming within the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests final yr that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters had been killed in confrontations with safety officers.
The Ruto administration backed Odinga’s bid to change into chairperson of the African Union Fee, in elections held earlier this yr. Regardless of robust regional assist, he misplaced to Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
Odinga impressed a passionate and constant following all through his political profession, particularly in western Kenya, the place he was from.
His supporters known as him “Baba” (Father), “Agwambo” (Act of God), and “Tinga” (Tractor) – drawn from his celebration’s image through the 1997 elections.
He was extensively considered a grasp strategist and mass mobiliser, usually drawing big crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep potential to attach with abnormal folks.
He might be remembered for his unwavering struggle for democratic freedoms and human rights.
He was a former political prisoner, and holds the report for being Kenya’s longest-serving detainee. His wrestle in opposition to one-party dictatorship noticed him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) through the rule of Daniel arap Moi.
He was initially imprisoned for attempting to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the nationwide stage.
