Raila Odinga

Raila Amolo Odinga (7 January 1945 – 15 October 2025), also popularly known to his supporters as Agwambo and more famously in recent times, Baba, was a Kenyan politician and one of the leading champions of Kenya's democracy in the 1990s during what is described as the 'Second Liberation". 

A man who was both divisive and revered, he came from an aristocratic political lineage. His father, Oginga Odinga, had been a leading figure in the movement for independence from Britain in 1963 and served as vice-president to the country’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, who begat his own lineage. 

Raila Odinga was born at Maseno Church Missionary Society Hospital, in Maseno, Kisumu District, Nyanza Province on 7 January 1945. He was educated at Maranda high school, from where his father dispatched him in the 1960s to East Germany to study at the Herder Institute, part of the University of Leipzig. He then studied mechanical engineering at what is now the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg before returning to Kenya, where he taught the subject at the University of Nairobi.

In 1973 Odinga married Ida Anyango Ayoo. Of their four children, one son was named after Fidel Castro and a daughter after Winnie Mandela. 

Odinga was arrested several times in the 80s and early 90s when the country was under one-party rule. Multiparty politics from 1992 gave him his chance to participate in the country’s affairs without fear of detention.

Among his many accomplishments that include being a long serving Member of Parliament for Langata Constituency from 1993 to 2013, and a Cabinet Minister for Energy (2001-2002) and Roads, Public Works and Housing (2003-2005) respectively in both Daniel Arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki's Governments, he stands out significantly as the Second and Last Prime Minister of Kenya. He became Prime Minister after Peace talks were held and mediated by Kofi Annan following the controversial 2007 General Elections in which Mwai Kibaki won but Odinga disputed the outcome of the results. A coalition government was therefore crafted  and it existed from 2008 to 2013, which was the next cycle of General Elections of Kenya. The position was formally abolished in 2013 when a new Government led by Uhuru Kenyatta came to power. 

After his period in office as Prime Minister came to an end, Odinga travelled the world giving lectures on democracy, but without ever seeking seriously to undermine those who had defeated him. From 2018 to 2023, he served in a senior position, High Representative for Infrastructure Development, in the African Union.

Mr. Odinga also unsuccessfully ran for President of Kenya five times from 1997 to most recently in the 2022 elections. 

Mr. Odinga passed away on 15 October 2025 from cardiac arrest suffered after a morning walk and attempts to revive him at a hospital in Koothattukulam, Kerala, India failed. He passed at the age of 80. Odinga is survived by his wife and three of their children, Rosemary, Raila and Winnie. His son Fidel predeceased him.

Posthumously, he has been awarded the title C.G.H., the Order of the Golden Heart by current President William Ruto for his vast accomplishments and dedication to the ideals of democracy and freedom for Kenyan citizens.

References

Other websites

 http://allafrica.com/stories/201002100793.html
 http://www.biddho.com/horn-of-africa/kenya/21456-raila-odinga-embroiled-in-261-million-maize-scandal-in-kenya-newstime-africa.html 
 Raila Odinga personal site 
 Office of the Prime Minister – Kenya 
 Raila Odinga – Profile, Biography & Timeline  
 Raila Odinga political biography
 An Audience with Raila  – (video – London Sep 7th 2007) 
 An open letter to Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga by Jerry Okungu, Posted On: 2007-11-28

Category:1945 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:Prime ministers of Kenya
Category:Deaths from cardiac arrest