Raila Odinga, renowned Kenyan political enigma and well recognized father of the country’s multiparty democracy has died in India at the age of 80. Odinga collapsed dead in the morning hours of Wednesday while on the health walk leaving the nearby persons and entire Kenya in shock.
By 10am, Raila’s demise has been received across the globe and condolence messages have since been pouring from the different parts of the country.
Below is additional reporting from BBC.
Tributes have been paid to former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who has died at the age of 80.
President William Ruto said the veteran politician, who died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India, was a “beacon of courage” and “father of our democracy”.
His body is due to be flown back home overnight for a funeral service and burial to be held over the coming days.
Odinga spent many years as an opposition leader, losing five presidential campaigns, most recently three years ago.
He collapsed during a morning walk and was taken to Devamatha Hospital, about 50km (30 miles) east of the port city of Kochi.
The hospital said he had suffered a cardiac arrest, did not respond to resuscitation measures and was “declared dead at 09:52” local time (04:22 GMT).
“Raila Amolo Odinga is truly a once-in-a-generation leader. A man whose ideals transcended politics, and whose legacy will shape the destiny of Kenya for generations to come,” Ruto said in a live address to the nation.
A seven-day period of mourning has also been declared. Odinga will be also be accorded a state funeral with full military honours, Ruto said.
Other Kenyan politicians and world leaders have been sending their condolences, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described Odinga as a “towering statesman and a cherished friend of India”.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was a “leader who placed the interests of his country and continent first” while Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema described Odinga as “a towering advocate for democracy”, whose legacy would endure. Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu said he “embodied the spirit of Pan-Africanism”.
On Wednesday, Kenya’s parliament observed a minute’s silence in his honour and scheduled a session on Thursday for lawmakers to pay tribute.
The Kenyan president had earlier visited Odinga’s family home in the capital, Nairobi, and expressed his condolences to his widow Ida Odinga and other family members.
It is understood that a delegation, led by Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Odinga’s widow, is on its way to India to oversee the arrangements to repatriate his body.
Local officials in Kochi said his body was due to be flown to Mumbai – from where it would be taken to Kenya, and was expected on Thursday morning.
The state funeral will be held at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on Friday and the following day his body will be transported to Kisumu, a city in western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria – his political stronghold.
Members of the public will get a chance to view the body before he is buried on Sunday at his farm in Bondo, about 60km west of Kisumu.
According to the family, it was Odinga’s wish to be laid to rest within the shortest time possible, ideally within 72 hours.
Odinga’s supporters have been pouring on to the streets to mourn, especially in western Kenya and parts of Nairobi.