Former Kenyan PM Raila Odinga is Dead

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, a source from his office confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday, though no additional details were provided.

According to Indian newspaper Mathrubhumi, Odinga, who had been receiving medical treatment in the southern Indian city of Kochi, suffered a cardiac arrest on Wednesday. He was reportedly rushed to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

Odinga, a towering figure in Kenyan politics, contested the presidency five times but never succeeded. Two of those elections — in 2007 and 2017 — were marred by widespread unrest, violence, and political division.

A lifelong advocate for democracy, Odinga played a central role in two of Kenya’s most significant political milestones: the return to multiparty democracy in 1991 and the promulgation of a new constitution in 2010.

Following the disputed 2007 election, he led nationwide protests that spiralled into the country’s worst political violence since independence, leaving about 1,300 people dead and displacing hundreds of thousands from their homes.