Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has died in India at the age of 80, Indian Police confirmed on Wednesday.
According to Krishnan M, Additional Superintendent of Police in Kerala State, Odinga collapsed during a morning walk with his sister, daughter, and personal doctor.
He was accompanied by both Indian and Kenyan security officers when the incident occurred. Despite being rushed to a nearby private hospital, doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
A Spokesperson for the Sreed hareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre in Kerala, where Odinga had been receiving treatment, also confirmed the death.
Born on January 7, 1945, Odinga was one of Kenya’s most influential political figures. A member of the LUO ethnic group, he spent years in jail and exile under the autocratic rule of President Daniel Arab Moi, championing democracy and political reform, served as Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008-2013.
He entered Parliament in 1992 and ran unsuccessfully for president five times in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 each time claiming he was denied victory through electoral fraud.
Odinga’s death marks the end of an era in Kenyan politics, closing the chapter on a lifelong struggle for democracy, reform, and justice.
-9News Nigeria.
