Former Kenyan PM Raila Odinga Dies In Kerala During Treatment
Former Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga, a key figure in African politics, has passed away on Wednesday following a cardiac arrest. Odinga was at Koothattukulam in Kerala’s Ernakulam district for Ayurvedic treatment. He reportedly, collapsed during a morning walk within the premises of the Ayurvedic facility and was rushed to a private hospital in Koothattukulam, where he was pronounced dead around 9.52 am, a spokesman for the Ayurvedic eye hospital said.
Odinga was a key figure in Kenyan politics, and his demise is to create a major leadership void within the country’s political opposition as it heads toward the 2027 elections.
Odinga’s political journey began when he entered parliament in 1992. Kenyan opposition leader, had waged five unsuccessful presidential campaigns between 1997 and 2022. He went on to contest the presidency five times — in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 — each time unsuccessfully.
Raila Odinga, was born on January 7, 1945, and he was the son of Kenya’s first vice president following independence in 1963. A prominent member of the Luo community, he devoted much of his life to politics — enduring years in exile and spending eight years in prison for his pro-democracy activism — yet he never realized his lifelong ambition of becoming president.
Throughout his career, Odinga played a key role in shaping Kenya’s democratic landscape, championing two landmark reforms — the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1991 and the adoption of a new constitution in 2010.
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He alleged electoral fraud in the last four contests and led mass protests following the disputed 2007 election, which spiraled into Kenya’s worst political violence since independence, leaving around 1,300 people dead and displacing hundreds of thousands.
Protests again rocked the country during the 2017 election, after the Supreme Court annulled the initial results and Odinga boycotted the rerun, calling it unfair.
Most recently, in March, he entered into a political pact with President William Ruto, enabling his opposition coalition, Azimio la Umoja, to participate in major policy discussions and secure cabinet positions.
