Kenyans have taken to the streets to mourn the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga

Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80 after suffering a heart attack in the southern Indian city of Kochi, where he had been hospitalized. Following his death, crowds gathered in the Kenyan city of Nakuru to hold a memorial demonstration for the former prime minister. Odinga, one of East Africa’s most influential political figures over the past 50 years, led the 1991 pro-democracy movement that ended Kenya’s one-party rule and played a key role in drafting the country’s 2010 Constitution. Throughout his political career, Odinga ran for the presidency five times—in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022. Although he never won, he remained the face of Kenya’s opposition and the strongest voice calling for reform. Born on January 7, 1945, in Maseno in western Kenya, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country’s first vice president.