Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga Dies at 80 While Seeking Treatment in India.

Veteran opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, sources have confirmed. Odinga passed away Wednesday morning at Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam, Kerala, India, where he was receiving medical care following cardiac arrest.

Reports indicate he collapsed during a morning walk at an Ayurvedic eye hospital–cum–research facility and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors were unable to revive him.

Odinga’s life was defined by his unwavering fight for democracy in Kenya. Born January 7, 1945, in the Nyanza region, he was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President. He emerged as a prominent political figure through the 1980s and 1990s, enduring state oppression and imprisonment before becoming a central actor in Kenya’s multiparty transitions.

Over decades, he ran for president five times (1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2022), challenging election outcomes and pushing for reforms. In 2008, after the post-election crisis, he became Prime Minister in a coalition government, serving until 2013. In 2017, he made history as Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election, though Odinga later boycotted the rerun.

News of his passing has triggered waves of grief across Kenya. In Kisumu, Bondo, and many parts of the country, thousands have taken to the streets, blowing whistles, waving tree branches, and sounding horns in tribute. Residents in Bondo expressed deep sorrow: “Tuko na huzuni sana” (We are very sad).