Former Kenyan Prime Minister and long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80.
Odinga passed away on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, after suffering a heart attack while receiving Ayurvedic medical treatment in Kerala, India, according to hospital and family sources. He was rushed to Devamatha Hospital in the town of Koothattukulam, where doctors confirmed he died of cardiac arrest.
Born on January 7, 1945, in Maseno, western Kenya, Odinga was the son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President. He studied mechanical engineering in East Germany before returning home, where he became a university lecturer and later entered politics.
Odinga was a central figure in Kenya’s struggle for democracy, helping lead the push for multiparty reforms in the early 1990s and playing a pivotal role in the drafting of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution.
He served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 following the disputed 2007 presidential election, which led to a power-sharing government with then-President Mwai Kibaki. Despite running for president five times in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022, he never secured the presidency, though he remained one of Kenya’s most influential and respected political figures.
In recent years, Odinga worked closely with President William Ruto under a political cooperation agreement aimed at promoting unity and development, signaling a shift from his long-standing opposition stance.
