BONDO, Kenya (BN24) — Thousands of mourners, relatives and dignitaries paid their final respects to Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday as he was laid to rest close to his farm in Bondo near Lake Victoria in western Kenya.
Sunday’s Anglican service and burial took place without major incident after an outpouring of national grief this week in which at least five people were killed and hundreds injured when surging crowds eager for a glimpse of his body overwhelmed authorities.
“Now finally Baba is home,” said his son and namesake, Raila junior, as his father’s casket, draped in the Kenyan flag, stood under a marquee. Odinga senior had died Wednesday aged eighty in India where he was receiving medical treatment.
Odinga, a democracy champion, was accorded full military honors that included a seventeen-gun salute by the army and was buried next to his father, Jaramogi, who fought for Kenya’s independence and was the country’s first vice president.
Thousands of Kenyans and dignitaries from across Africa attended the final interment of a man described as a “selfless pan-Africanist.” The wailing mourners breached a security cordon to gain access to the burial site, which was initially only for family members and leaders.
Leaders present at the burial, who included President William Ruto who signed a political pact with Odinga early this year, talked about the need for Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement party to remain united and either form or join the next government after the 2027 election.
Ruto said he would support Odinga’s party to remain united and honor the political pact signed earlier in the year that saw opposition members appointed as ministers. “I am very proud today that Raila Amolo Odinga is being rested when one of his own students — a man he has mentored — is today the president of Kenya,” he said.
Ruto had said Friday that Odinga helped him “steady the country” after a political pact signed in March this year, following months of anti-government protests that saw young Kenyans storm and burn part of parliament buildings.
Odinga’s party officials were divided in their tributes, with some insisting they would honor the pact with government, while others hinted at an intention to steer clear of his former political rivals who tear-gassed him during opposition protests.
Though he never succeeded in his five campaigns to be president, Odinga entered into political agreements with three of the country’s five presidents when tensions rose after elections.
In a message on social media platform X, former U.S. President Barack Obama praised Odinga as a champion of peace who placed his country’s interests ahead of personal ambitions. “Like few other leaders anywhere, he was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without compromising his core values,” Obama said.
Tributes also came from former Kenyan and Nigerian presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Olusegun Obasanjo, who were at the service in Bondo.
Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga became prime minister in 2008 and struck political pacts with Kenyatta in 2018 and with Ruto last year in a career of shifting alliances. He was once imprisoned for treason and ran unsuccessfully for president five times.
Odinga was widely referred to as “Baba” or “father” in the Swahili language. After the main service at a local university, the funeral cortege headed to a private interment with a military band gun salute.
Odinga unsuccessfully ran for the African Union chairperson position but previously mediated political impasses on the continent. Former AU Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha said Odinga’s influence was continental. “I see him as one of those who fought for the second liberation,” he said, adding that some African countries are still struggling for democracy.
While serving as prime minister in 2010, Odinga played a critical role in constitutional review. Since his death, dozens of world leaders have hailed his statesmanship.
The first public viewing of his body Thursday turned deadly when officers opened fire to disperse crowds after they breached a stadium gate in Nairobi. On Friday, another two people were killed and more than one hundred sixty others injured at the state funeral in the capital, while dozens of mourners were injured Saturday after his body was flown to the city of Kisumu, the political heartland of his Luo tribe.
“I’m feeling so low having lost him and this feels like a bad dream … I still can’t believe Baba is gone,” Ainea Opilu, a twenty-five-year-old tutor, told Reuters.
The violence that marked Odinga’s public viewings reflected the intense devotion he commanded among supporters, especially in his Luo community in western Kenya, many of whom believe he was denied the presidency by electoral fraud over decades of political competition.
The deadly stampedes raised questions about crowd control measures and security planning for high-profile state events. Authorities had struggled to manage the massive numbers of mourners who turned out to pay respects to a figure who dominated Kenyan politics for more than four decades.
Odinga’s survivors include his wife Ida and children Rosemary, Raila Junior and Winnie. His political legacy includes a history of imprisonment during Kenya’s more authoritarian periods and persistent advocacy for democratic reforms and social justice.
The peaceful conclusion to Sunday’s burial service provided some relief to a nation that has previously been marred by post-election violence and anti-government protests. Kenya now faces political uncertainty as Odinga’s party navigates its future without its longtime leader.
