Odinga, popularly known as “Baba” or “Agwambo”, reportedly collapsed during a morning walk after suffering a heart attack. His death brought an end to a political career spanning more than four decades, during which he became a central figure in Kenya’s struggle for multiparty democracy, constitutional reform and national reconciliation.
Kenya and Africa at large lost one of its most influential political figures on October 15, 2025, when former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga died aged 80 while receiving medical treatment in Kerala, India.
Odinga, popularly known as “Baba” or “Agwambo”, reportedly collapsed during a morning walk after suffering a heart attack. His death brought an end to a political career spanning more than four decades, during which he became a central figure in Kenya’s struggle for multiparty democracy, constitutional reform and national reconciliation.
Born in 1945 to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President, Raila trained as a mechanical engineer in East Germany before entering politics. His opposition to one-party rule during the late 1980s and early 1990s earned him years of detention without trial and made him a prominent figure in Kenya’s pro-democracy movement.
His political journey eventually led him to the highest levels of government. Following the disputed 2007 presidential election and the violence that engulfed Kenya, Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement with President Mwai Kibaki under the National Accord. He served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013, helping steer the country through a period of political instability.
Odinga also played a significant role in the process that produced Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, which introduced devolution, strengthened the protection of fundamental rights and established safeguards for judicial independence.
Despite losing several presidential elections, he remained a formidable force in Kenyan politics, leading the Orange Democratic Movement and later the Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition. His 2018 reconciliation with President Uhuru Kenyatta, popularly known as the Handshake, marked another defining moment in his efforts to ease political tensions.
His influence extended beyond Kenya. As the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development from 2018 to 2023, Odinga championed continental transport links, regional trade and infrastructure projects aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
For Uganda, his legacy was closely tied to regional integration and the economic relationship between the two neighbouring countries. Odinga advocated for improved transport infrastructure along the Northern Corridor, which connects the Port of Mombasa to landlocked countries, including Uganda. He also championed deeper East African Community integration, including the removal of trade barriers and the long-term ambition of an East African political federation.
At the time of his death, Odinga remained an influential voice in continental affairs and had been pursuing the chairmanship of the African Union Commission, seeking to become the organisation’s next leader.
His death prompted widespread mourning in Kenya and tributes from across Africa. The Kenyan government accorded him a state funeral before he was laid to rest at his ancestral home in Kang'o ka Jaramogi in Siaya County.
For a generation of Kenyans, Odinga represented the long struggle for democratic change, the persistence of political opposition and the difficult compromises required to preserve national stability. His passing marked the end of an era in Kenyan politics, while his influence on the country's democratic institutions and East Africa's integration ambitions remained part of his enduring legacy.