Daily Lens Report
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has died in India at the age of 80, Indian authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
According to Krishnan M, Additional Superintendent of Police in Kerala State, Odinga collapsed suddenly while on a morning walk with his sister, daughter, and personal doctor. He was accompanied by both Indian and Kenyan security officers at the time.
“He was rushed to a nearby private hospital after collapsing, but was declared dead on arrival,” Krishnan told AFP.
A representative from the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre in Kerala, where Odinga had been receiving care, also confirmed his passing.
“This morning around 7:45 a.m., Mr. Raila was on his morning walk when he experienced breathing difficulties and collapsed,” the hospital spokesman said. “He was given CPR immediately and showed brief signs of recovery before being taken to a modern hospital, where all efforts to revive him failed.”
A member of Odinga’s political team, who requested anonymity pending an official party statement, also confirmed the news.
Born on January 7, 1945, Raila Odinga was a central figure in Kenya’s political landscape for decades. A member of the Luo ethnic group, he was imprisoned and exiled during the rule of President Daniel arap Moi for his pro-democracy activism.
Odinga first entered parliament in 1992 and went on to contest the presidency five times — in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 — each time alleging electoral fraud after narrow defeats.
His death marks the end of an era for Kenyan politics, closing the chapter on one of the country’s most enduring and influential political figures.
