Politics Kenya's longtime opposition leader Odinga is dead
The long-time Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is dead. He died on Wednesday morning at the age of 80 in a hospital in India, where he had been receiving treatment for several days, according to Indian media reports. Employees of his party office confirmed the death.
15.10.2025, 12:33
SDA
Commentators on special broadcasts on Kenyan television stations spoke of the end of an era. Odinga, leader of the "Orange Democratic Movement" (ODM), had unsuccessfully run for president five times. The opposition politician, who had fought for years for a multi-party democracy in the East African country, had studied in Magdeburg, Germany, as a young man and also spoke German.
The news of Odinga's death caused spontaneous crowds in his home region in western Kenya, but also in his constituency in Nairobi. Many people waved green branches, as is customary among the Luo ethnic group as an expression of joy or mourning. Odinga, who was usually only called "Raila" or "Baba" (father) by his supporters, belonged to Kenya's second largest ethnic group.
