NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 15 — From the struggle for multiparty democracy to the corridors of power, from the contested 2007 election to the Supreme Court-annulled 2017 presidential poll, and ultimately to his final political realignment with William Ruto, Raila Odinga’s career embodied the contradictions of Kenya’s democratic journey.

📻 Breaking It Down

When Kenya launched Raila’s bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship in August 2024, the campaign brought together political rivals in an unlikely alliance, with Ruto leading the national effort to secure his election.

To supporters, the partnership demonstrated pragmatism and a willingness to put national interests above personal grievances; to critics, it raised questions about the price of compromise and the fate of the causes that had sustained his movement.

One year after his death on October 15, 2025, the question is not simply what Kenya lost, but what changed because Raila was here, what remained unfinished and what his career reveals about the country’s continuing struggle with power, accountability and electoral trust.

📌 What You Need to Know

Raila was among the prominent figures who challenged one-party rule and helped restore multiparty democracy to Kenya’s political agenda in 1991, alongside civil society activists, religious leaders and ordinary citizens who confronted an increasingly repressive political order.

The confrontation between Reverend Timothy Njoya and anti-riot police during the 1990 Saba Saba (July 7) protests remains a reminder that the struggle for political pluralism extended well beyond established politicians.

Raila’s contribution lay partly in turning political resistance into mass mobilisation and keeping electoral competition and constitutional reform at the centre of national debate.

For Professor Adams Oloo, a political analyst and Raila ally who is leading a team planning the former Prime Minister’s first-anniversary commemoration, his legacy was defined partly by a willingness to put collective interests ahead of personal ambition.

“Because of his selflessness, I think when one looks at Raila Odinga here in Kenya and then tries to project that for the rest of Africa, then you see an individual who has sacrificed not just for the country but at times sacrificed individual interests for the good of the country,” Oloo said.

House Minority Leader Junet Mohamed offered a similar assessment at Raila’s burial in Bondo on October 19, 2025, describing him as “the only leader who knew when to fight and when to lay arms down,” adding that “Baba had fire on one hand and water on the other hand.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya