NAIROBI, Kenya – The National Assembly on Wednesday morning abruptly adjourned its sitting following the death of Kenya’s former Prime Minister and veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga.
Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, who had earlier attended an event at State House, announced the adjournment but did not immediately disclose the reason, saying MPs would be briefed later in the afternoon.
“I will invoke my authority under Standing Order Number One directly as follows. The sitting of the House this morning is adjourned. We will have a meeting at 2.30 this afternoon where the Speaker will give you some important communication,” Wetang’ula told the House.
Moments later, news broke that Raila had died in India at the age of 80 after suffering a heart attack.
Raila, who served as Kenya’s first Prime Minister under the Grand Coalition Government between 2008 and 2013, was one of the country’s most consequential and enduring political figures.
His influence spanned over four decades of Kenya’s post-independence history, shaping debates on democracy, governance, and social justice.
A symbol of opposition resilience, Raila’s political career was defined by his fiery rhetoric, reformist zeal, and a relentless quest for democratic space.
Despite multiple presidential campaigns — in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 — he never ascended to the presidency, yet his imprint on Kenya’s political evolution remains profound.
Born on January 7, 1945, in Maseno, Kisumu County, Raila was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President and one of the architects of the independence movement.
Raila’s political journey saw him endure detention without trial, exile, and repeated clashes with successive regimes.
He was instrumental in the push for multiparty democracy in the early 1990s and played a central role in the 2010 constitutional reforms that ushered in Kenya’s new governance framework.
Beyond Kenya, Raila also carved a continental profile. In 2018, he was appointed the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development, a role that expanded his influence across Africa.
Over the years, he founded and led several political movements, from the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD) to the National Development Party (NDP), before forming the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in 2005 — a party that became the face of Kenya’s opposition politics.
His last presidential bid in 2022, backed by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta under the Azimio coalition, ended in a narrow defeat to William Ruto.
Although the Supreme Court upheld the result, Raila maintained that his loss reflected deep institutional flaws in Kenya’s electoral system.
Raila Odinga leaves behind a legacy intertwined with Kenya’s political transformation — a figure revered and contested in equal measure, but one whose influence on the nation’s democratic journey is undeniable.
