Outpoll | Raila Odinga, Kenyan opposition leader, dies aged 80.

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Raila Odinga, Kenyan opposition leader, dies aged 80.

Raila Odinga, Kenyan opposition leader, dies aged 80.

1 day ago7 min read7 comments

The political landscape of Kenya, and indeed the broader African continent, has been irrevocably altered with the passing of Raila Odinga at the age of 80, a figure whose long and tumultuous career mirrors the complex, often fraught, journey of a nation forging its democratic identity. Odinga was not merely a politician; he was a perennial force, a symbol of both relentless opposition and, at critical junctures, unexpected reconciliation.His five unsuccessful bids for the presidency—in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022—cemented his reputation as the definitive 'people's president' in the eyes of his fervent supporters, a title borne of perceived electoral injustices that, much like the contested elections in other young democracies, fueled deep-seated grievances and, at times, tragic violence, most notably the post-election crisis of 2007-2008 which left over 1,000 dead. Yet, to view his legacy solely through the prism of these defeats is to miss the profound strategic nuance of his statesmanship.His willingness to share power, most significantly in the 2008 Grand Coalition Government where he served as Prime Minister under his erstwhile rival, President Mwai Kibaki, was a masterstroke of political pragmatism that arguably saved the nation from a descent into civil war, a move that would have drawn nods of grim approval from historical architects of grand compromises. This was not an admission of defeat, but a Churchillian recognition that the preservation of the state sometimes requires swallowing one's ambition for the greater good, a lesson many modern leaders in polarized nations have yet to learn.The son of Kenya's first vice-president, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila inherited a political dynasty built on a foundation of dissent and social democratic principles, spending nearly a decade in detention during the Daniel arap Moi era, an experience that forged his resilience and cemented his anti-establishment credentials. His political vehicle, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), became the primary vessel for his ambitions and the hopes of millions, yet his alliances were famously fluid, forming partnerships with former enemies like Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2018 'Handshake' that once again calmed a nation on edge after another disputed election.Analysts now ponder the immense vacuum his departure creates; without his towering, unifying-disunifying presence, the opposition coalition he led is likely to fragment into competing factions, potentially destabilizing Kenya's delicate ethnic and political balance. His death raises urgent questions about the future of constitutionalism and the strength of institutions he both challenged and, at times, bolstered. Will his legacy be one of a democrat who fought tirelessly, if ultimately unsuccessfully, for the top job, or that of a kingmaker whose greatest impact was in brokering peace from the brink of chaos? The coming days of national mourning and the subsequent political maneuvering will provide the first clues, but the full measure of a life so deeply intertwined with Kenya's post-colonial history will be taken by generations of historians, who will doubtless compare his long game to other great, flawed, and ultimately indispensable figures of 20th and 21st-century statecraft.