Raila Odinga, Kenya’s veteran politician and longtime opposition leader, has died, aged 80. 

Odinga’s death occurred on Wednesday, October 15, in India, while undergoing treatment.

The standard revisits his political journey through pictures in our archives. 

Born on January 7, 1945, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice president.

The man from Opoda Farm in Maseno, Siaya County, was married to Ida Odinga and is survived by three children and five grandchildren

Following in his father’s footsteps, Odinga joined politics in the late 1970s.

Between 1982 and 1988, he endured imprisonment and periods of exile as he campaigned for democracy under former President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime.

Odinga served as a Member of Parliament and later as Kenya’s first Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 under the Grand Coalition Government, formed after the disputed 2007 presidential election that he and his supporters maintained he had won against incumbent Mwai Kibaki.

His influence went beyond politics, symbolising Kenya’s decades-long struggle for multiparty democracy, justice, and equitable governance. 

Over the years, he became one of Africa’s most resilient opposition figures and a perennial presidential contender, losing five consecutive elections. 

In 2018, following the fiercely contested 2017 election, Odinga and then-President Uhuru Kenyatta struck a surprise truce through the now-famous “handshake,” launching a national reform agenda known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

Odinga made his final bid for the presidency in 2022 under the Azimio la Umoja coalition, an alliance of more than 26 parties, including his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party. 

After narrowly losing to William Ruto, Odinga remained a central figure in national politics.

By the time of his demise, Odinga was widely regarded as a statesman, evolving from opposition firebrand to joining the government of the day.