Kenya ex-PM Odinga passes away in Kerala

AP Nairobi

Raila Odinga, a former prime minister of Kenya and perennial presidential candidate whose populist campaigns rattled authorities and gave him an outsized influence on political life in his East African country, died on Wednesday of a heart attack while travelling in India. He was 80.

His death was confirmed by the Devamatha Hospital in India's Kerala state, where he was taken after he collapsed during a morning walk. A statement from the hospital said Odinga suffered a cardiac arrest and didn't respond to resuscitation efforts. Indian PM Narendra Modi said on the social platform X that he was saddened by the death of Odinga, describing him as "a towering statesman."   

Other tributes to Odinga paid tribute to his commitment to democracy in Kenya. There were somber scenes at his home in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where mourners including President William Ruto gathered. Odinga had recently signed a pact with Ruto that saw his opposition party involved in government policymaking and its members appointed to cabinet.

But his ambition was to become Kenya's president, and he ran five times – sometimes with enough support that many believed he might win. The closest he came to taking the presidency was in 2007, when he narrowly lost to incumbent Mwai Kibaki in a disputed election marred by ethnic violence. Although he never succeeded, for many he was a revered figure and statesman whose activism helped steer Kenya away from single-party rule and into vibrant multiparty democracy.