NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 18 \u2013 Former US President Barack Obama has eulogized the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, describing him as a \u201ctrue champion of democracy\u201d whose life was defined by sacrifice, courage, and unwavering commitment to Kenya\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n
In a message of condolence, Obama hailed Raila as \u201ca child of independence\u201d who endured decades of struggle and suffering in pursuit of self-governance and justice for all Kenyans.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaila Odinga was a true champion of democracy. A child of independence, he endured decades of struggle and sacrifice for the broader cause of freedom and self-governance in Kenya,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n
The former US leader, whose father hailed from Kenya, recalled witnessing Raila\u2019s deep patriotism and selflessness, noting that he always placed the country\u2019s interests above his personal ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime and again, I personally saw him put the interests of his country ahead of his own ambitions,\u201d Obama said, adding that Raila stood out as a leader willing to pursue peaceful reconciliation without compromising his values.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike few other leaders anywhere, he was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without compromising his core values,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Obama said Raila\u2019s legacy would continue to inspire not only Kenyans but also people across Africa and the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough his life, Raila Odinga set an example not just for Kenyans, but across Africa and around the world. I know he will be missed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He concluded by extending his and Michelle Obama\u2019s condolences to the Odinga family and the people of Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and to the people of Kenya,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 18 \u2013 Former US President Barack Obama has eulogized the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, describing him as a \u201ctrue champion of democracy\u201d whose life was defined by sacrifice, courage, and unwavering commitment to Kenya\u2019s freedom. In a message of condolence, Obama hailed Raila as \u201ca child of independence\u201d who endured […]<\/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-123314","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\/123314","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=123314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}