{"id":99068,"date":"2025-10-17T21:10:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99068"},"modified":"2025-10-17T21:10:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:10:05","slug":"emotional-send-off-for-kenyas-revered-ex-pm-raila-odinga-at-state-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=99068","title":{"rendered":"Emotional send-off for Kenya\u2019s revered ex-PM Raila Odinga at state funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of Kenya\u2019s most revered politicians, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has received an emotional send-off at his state funeral in the capital, Nairobi.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people \u2013 many carrying branches as a traditional symbol of grief and wearing T-shirts printed with his image \u2013 wept and sang at the service at Nyayo National Stadium, where they paid their final respects.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery once in a generation, there comes a leader whose impact transcends their moment,\u201d President William Ruto told the crowds about his former rival\u2019s legacy to multi-party democracy.<\/p>\n

Two mourners died later as crowds surged forward to see Odinga\u2019s coffin at the lying in state, according to M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res.<\/p>\n

The aid agency said the field hospital at the stadium also attended to 163 patients and referred 34 others for further care.<\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/figure>\n

Security officers managed to restore order afterwards and the public viewing of his body later carried on smoothly.<\/p>\n

This follows the deaths of at least three people on Thursday\u00a0after police fired gunshots and tear gas\u00a0in an attempt to contain the huge crowds who had turned out to escort Odinga\u2019s body from the country\u2019s main airport after its arrival from India.<\/p>\n

Odinga, who died at a hospital near the Indian city of Kochi aged 80 on Wednesday, never made it to Kenya\u2019s presidency \u2013 failing five times \u2013 but his daughter Winnie told mourners that he had risen again each time \u201cwith grace, forgiveness and hope\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned from him that love for country is not just in words; it is in sacrifice. That justice must be pursued even when the path is lonely. True leadership is service, not power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/figure>\n

The presidents of Somalia and Ethiopia were among regional leaders who attended the service.<\/p>\n

As Odinga\u2019s body entered the stadium in a ceremonial military procession, mourners broke into chants, whistles and songs.<\/p>\n

They chanted \u201cRaila usilale, bado mapambano\u201d, a popular Swahili political slogan, which translates as \u201cRaila, don\u2019t sleep, the struggle is not over\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was a symbolic appeal for the late leader\u2019s spirit to stay watchful, as his political struggle continues.<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, President Ruto also led mourners in singing Odinga\u2019s favourite reggae song, Jamaican Farewell.<\/p>\n

His widow Ida appealed to Kenyans to uphold peace and unity as they mourned the man who, following the bloody and disputed 2007 election, became prime minister in a unity government.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaila hated dishonesty. He hated greed. The greed that has affected the fabric of our society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta brought a moment of levity during his eulogy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes after work, we would just sit together, talking and laughing,\u201d said Kenyatta, who had backed Odinga\u2019s unsuccessful fifth presidential bid in 2022, after beating him in disputed polls five years earlier.<\/p>\n

Bishop David Kodia, who led the service, said Odinga never used his political power and money to intimidate people.<\/p>\n

\"Emotional<\/figure>\n

One young mourner told the BBC that he had arrived at the stadium at 06:00 to say his goodbyes to Odinga: \u201cI believe in his dream for this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the ceremony a woman expressed her feelings, telling the BBC: \u201cWe\u2019ve listened, we\u2019ve danced \u2013 because in Luo [Odinga\u2019s ethnic group] we celebrate a life. For us, Raila was simply a carer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday morning, Odinga\u2019s body was taken to parliament, where MPs and selected dignitaries viewed it.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, his body will be transported to Kisumu, a city in western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria \u2013 his political stronghold.<\/p>\n

Members of the public will get a chance to view the body before he is buried on Sunday at his farm in Bondo, about 60km (40 miles) west of Kisumu.<\/p>\n

Ayang Nyong\u2019o, the current governor of Kisumu County who stood by Odinga during Kenya\u2019s most turbulent political years in the 1980s, said that without his friend and colleague\u2019s sacrifices, Kenyan democracy would not be what it was today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think his most enduring legacy really was to win respect for the common people \u2013 the ordinary Kenyan \u2013 that the ordinary Kenyan matters,\u201d he told the BBC\u2019s Newsday programme.<\/p>\n

The governor, who is father to Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong\u2019o, added that Odinga\u2019s fight for devolution could not be underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaila\u2019s passionate leadership for this and winning the battle is something that he goes to heaven wearing as a laurel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to the family, it was Odinga\u2019s wish to be laid to rest within the shortest time possible, ideally within 72 hours.<\/p>\n

A seven-day period of mourning has been declared.<\/p>\n

He was the country\u2019s main opposition leader for many years and repeatedly said he was cheated of victory, citing the manipulation of votes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"EmotionalOne of Kenya’s most revered politicians, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has received an emotional send-off at his state funeral in the capital, Nairobi.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1910,10,9,10726,3356],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politics","category-popular","category-prime-minister-raila-odinga","category-state-funeral"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}