Kenya has held a state funeral for opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
Odinga, 80, died from a suspected heart attack at a health clinic in southern India on Wednesday, triggering a huge outpouring of grief across much of his home country.
Thousands of mourners gathered amid a heavy security presence at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium today, Friday, October 17, 2025, waving white handkerchiefs and dancing at the venue, which was bedecked with large banners featuring Odinga’s portrait.
The body was laid in state at Parliament Buildings early in the morning, ahead of the state funeral.
Leaders, including President William Ruto, were present at Parliament and paid their respects in a brief ceremony. The Head of state and First Lady Rachel Ruto were the first to view the body and pay tribute to the fallen veteran politician.
Ruto attended the state funeral, alongside Heads of parliament and the judiciary. Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was among the African dignitaries present. Among the mourners were Odinga’s wife Ida, daughters Winnie and Rosemary, and son Raila Odinga Junior.
Ruto told the crowd, gathered at Nairobi’s Nyayo stadium for Odinga’s funeral, “He walked among us as a man but also charged among us as a movement for change, a movement for justice… for a better and greater Kenya.”
David Kodia, the Anglican bishop who led the service, urged the leaders present to be “selfless” like Odinga and to shun corruption.
The mourners who attended Friday’s ceremony paid tribute to Odinga’s efforts as an activist.
Affectionately known as “Baba” (father in Swahili), Odinga was arguably the most important political figure of his generation in Kenya.
Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga became Prime Minister in 2008 and also struck a political pact with former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018, and with Ruto last year in a career of shifting alliances.
Although he never succeeded in winning the presidency despite five attempts, he played a central role in returning the country to multi-party democracy in the 1990s and is credited as the main force behind a widely praised constitution passed in 2010.
Raila Odinga’s Funeral Follows Mourning Chaos
The state funeral for Raila Odinga comes a day after security forces killed several people after opening fire to disperse crowds of mourners at a stadium hosting a public viewing of his body.
There were chaotic scenes on Thursday as his body was repatriated from India and taken to a stadium on the outskirts of Nairobi to lie in state.
His body arrived at the country’s main airport on Thursday morning, where the authorities were forced to briefly suspend flights because of the huge crowds gathered there.
Mourners had gained access to restricted areas, prompting a “precautionary closure” that lasted about two hours.
From the airport, thousands of people moved in a procession to escort the vehicle carrying the body to the stadium, about 10km (six miles) from the city centre. The convoy arrived to a packed stadium, with more people waiting outside.
According to prominent rights group VOCAL Africa, as huge crowds surged towards a VIP gate at one point, security forces opened fire, killing at least three people.
It said on X that it had confirmed “three bodies from Kasarani (stadium) have been received this evening at City Mortuary.”
Hussein Khalid, head of VOCAL Africa, said at the morgue, “The excessive use of force against mourners is totally unwarranted.”
“We are calling on the police to exercise utmost restraint…We don’t want to see more deaths associated with this funeral.”
Hussein Khalid
Odinga’s body will next travel to western Kenya, his family’s home region, where more huge crowds are expected on Saturday, before a private burial service on Sunday.
His death leaves a leadership vacuum in the opposition, with no obvious successor as Kenya heads into a potentially volatile election in 2027.
