{"id":123149,"date":"2025-10-15T13:09:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/15\/kenyas-foremost-statesman-great-son-of-africa-ruto-mourns-raila\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T13:09:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:09:54","slug":"kenyas-foremost-statesman-great-son-of-africa-ruto-mourns-raila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kenyas-foremost-statesman-great-son-of-africa-ruto-mourns-raila\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Kenya\u2019s foremost statesman, great son of Africa\u2019: Ruto mourns Raila"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 15 \u2014 President William Ruto has eulogised former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as \u201cKenya\u2019s foremost statesman and one of Africa\u2019s greatest sons\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The President further described Odinga as a colossus of Kenya\u2019s modern politics, a tireless warrior in Kenya\u2019s struggle for freedom and prosperity.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaila Amolo Odinga\u2019s name will forever be etched in the story of our Republic: A story of struggle, sacrifice, courage, rule of law, hope, and our pursuit for excellence,\u201d he said at State House Nairobi on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0He made the remarks when he formally announced Odinga\u2019s demise while receiving treatment in India.<\/p>\n

The President prayed for comfort of Odinga\u2019s family and members of his party, the Orange Democratic Movement.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Wednesday morning, the President visited Odinga\u2019s home in Karen, Nairobi, to offer his condolences.<\/p>\n

Prior to his death, Odinga, who passed on at 80, had been receiving treatment at a hospital in India before succumbing to a cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

Odinga served as Kenya\u2019s Prime Minister between 2008 and 2013 during the Grand Coalition Government and was the MP for Kibera Constituency between 1992 and 2013.<\/p>\n

He is the scion of Independence freedom fighter and Vice-President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who died in 1994.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is the younger brother of Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga Odinga.<\/p>\n

7-day mourning <\/h2>\n

In honour of Odinga\u2019s passing, President Ruto has declared a seven-day mourning period during which the National Flag shall fly at half-mast across the Republic of Kenya and in all diplomatic missions abroad.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the President announced that Odinga will be accorded a State funeral, befitting a man of his colossal stature.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAs a mark of respect, I have postponed all my public engagements in the coming days to join the nation in this period of mourning and deep reflection.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stated that a committee to be co-chaired by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Senator Oburu has been set up to coordinate funeral arrangements.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The President also announced that the Government of India, at the request of the Government of Kenya, has offered to facilitate the repatriation of Odinga\u2019s remains.<\/p>\n

Consequently, a team led by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has been dispatched immediately to organise the repatriation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other members of the delegation are Mama Ida Odinga, Cabinet Secretaries Kipchumba Murkomen (Interior) and Hassan Joho (Mining), National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung\u2019wa, Minority Leader Junet Mohamed, and family members Jaoko Oburu Odinga and Kevin Opiyo Oginga.<\/p>\n

President Ruto called for national unity as the country mourns Mr Odinga, urging national reflection on his towering legacy and the lessons he impacted during his lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us come together, as he always urged us to do, not as rivals, but as brothers and sisters bound by a shared destiny,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 15 \u2014 President William Ruto has eulogised former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as \u201cKenya\u2019s foremost statesman and one of Africa\u2019s greatest sons\u201d. The President further described Odinga as a colossus of Kenya\u2019s modern politics, a tireless warrior in Kenya\u2019s struggle for freedom and prosperity. \u201cRaila Amolo Odinga\u2019s name will forever be etched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}