NAIROBI, Kenya — Raila Odinga, Kenya’s veteran opposition leader and former prime minister, died on Wednesday in the Indian city of Kochi after suffering cardiac arrest during a morning walk at an Ayurvedic treatment facility. He was 80.
Family sources said Odinga had been in India for treatment following a recent minor stroke.
President William Ruto announced a seven-day period of national mourning and a state funeral in honor of the longtime politician, describing him as “a towering figure in Kenya’s multiparty democracy.”
Odinga, who served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 under a power-sharing government, was one of Kenya’s most influential and enduring political figures. He contested the presidency five times, shaping the country’s post-independence political landscape and advocating for democratic reforms for more than four decades.
Kenya's Raila Odinga, a veteran opposition leader at the heart of the country's politics for decades, has died at the age of 80 https://t.co/CRn2Fh1wAh pic.twitter.com/iQwV18If6B
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 15, 2025
Kenyan President William Ruto declared seven days of national mourning after the death of Raila Odinga, former prime minister and opposition leader, who passed away at 80 https://t.co/CRn2Fh1wAh pic.twitter.com/ucsCWnuLGM
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 15, 2025