Tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Kisumu on Saturday to pay their final respects to Kenya’s former Prime Minister and democracy icon, Raila Odinga, whose body now lies in state at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium , his political stronghold in western Kenya.
The 80-year-old opposition leader, who passed away earlier this week at a hospital in India, was honored with a state funeral in Nairobi on Friday before his body was flown to Kisumu for public viewing.
Crowds, many dressed in orange — the color of Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) — gathered before dawn, waving branches, a Luo traditional symbol of mourning. The atmosphere was charged with grief and reverence, as mourners cried out, “We are orphans,” while struggling to catch a glimpse of his coffin draped in the Kenyan flag and adorned with his trademark fedora hat and fly whisk.
First aid workers were seen treating several people injured in the surging crowds. At the same time, reports indicated that at least five people have died at earlier memorial gatherings held in Odinga’s honor.
“I have come here to mourn an icon of Africa,” said Dixon Ochieng, one of the mourners. Another, Jacob Omondi, told the BBC, “I remember him for giving us democracy, for giving us freedom — the right to speak and to challenge authority.”
Odinga, a central figure in Kenya’s political landscape for decades, ran for president five times but never won, often alleging electoral manipulation. Following Kenya’s disputed 2007 election, he became Prime Minister in a power-sharing government that helped end months of post-election violence.
He is widely hailed as a founding father of Kenya’s multi-party democracy, admired for his resilience and lifelong struggle for political reform.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama paid tribute on social media, calling Odinga “a true champion of democracy” who “put the interests of his country ahead of his own ambitions.”
Odinga will be buried on Sunday in a private ceremony at his family farm in Bondo, about 60 kilometers from Kisumu, in line with his wish to be laid to rest within 72 hours of his passing.
