It is with sadness that we heard about the news of Raila Odinga‘s passing yesterday, on October 15th. It makes one wonder if, when one fights for the true freedom of Africa, one dies without ever getting in power? or killed in power for their principles? Is one just supposed to accompany democracy?

Raila Odinga has been a dominant unavoidable force in Kenyan politics for the past 30 years, and even longer, given that his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, was the first vice-president of Kenya alongside Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president. Thus, Raila Odinga has been a baobab in Kenya’s political scene, who has always fought for the freedom and democracy in Kenya. Out of the past 5 elections, 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022, he has always contested, has come second, and even narrowly won to the point that there have always been disputes which have gone as far as civil unrest as in 2007, when Odinga contested elections against Mwai Kibaki, which led to the biggest crisis in Kenya’s history resulting in 1200 deaths and about 600,000 people forced to flee their homes. The crisis was resolved in a peace brokering by UN Kofi Annan which saw Kibaki emerge as president and Odinga as the nation’s prime minister. After the 2017 elections, he was vindicated by Kenya’s highest court after the 2017 elections when the court annulled Uhuru Kenyatta‘s victory and ordered fresh polls; however, Odinga boycotted the run citing frauds. 

Odinga always found a way to put peace ahead of his own person, and reconciled with the incumbent; his love for Kenyans made it hard for him to stay angry or be selfish; he always placed Kenya first. He was affectionately called “Baba” (Father), “Agwambo” (Act of God), and “Tinga” (Tractor) – drawn from his party’s symbol during the 1997 elections. He was a former political prisoner, and holds the record for being Kenya’s longest serving detainee. He was detained twice from 1982 to 1988, and 1989 to 1991 when he fought against the one-party rule of Daniel Arap Moi. 

Initially, Odinga, a native of Kisumu, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria, studied engineering in East Germany before returning home in the 1970s where he taught at the University of Nairobi and started a range of successful businesses. He found his way into politics when he was linked to a failed coup against Arap Moi in 1982; accused of treason, and though the charges were later dropped, he spent most of the decade in and out of jail.

To many, he is known as the founding father of Kenya’s multiparty democracy, a master strategist, and a great mobilizer, bringing in together huge crowds and people of all walks of life. To many, Odinga had been under political persecution for his strength, and his wish for a better Kenya. After fighting for so many years, being so close all the time, with one’s victories getting stolen, how does one reconcile it in the end? Are the Western puppets always the winners, while the strong-willed true lovers of their people always second? 

So long Baba Odinga! Thank you for your love, for your great political acumen, and for your strength, never giving up over the years. You have been and remain an example for our struggle for the freedom and betterment of Africa; we will never give up and like you, never back down!!!