Raila's life was Kenya's struggle for dignity written in blood and flesh

A year after his death in October last year, Kenya continues to evaluate the legacy of former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga. Fondly known, even by his critics as “Baba,” or “ the Enigma”,  the veteran opposition leader died at 80 while undergoing treatment in India, leaving behind a political legacy so vast that it continues to shape alliances, succession battles, and the very character of Kenyan democracy.

From spending years in detention and prison cells in the 80s to the handshake on the steps of Harambee House in 2017 and thereafter in 2022, Odinga’s life was Kenya’s struggle for pluralism, devolution, and dignity written in flesh and blood.

Odinga was a relative unknown, covered by his father’s larger-than-life shadow until he was accused of involvement in the failed 1982 coup. He was then detained without trial for six years, becoming Kenya’s longest-serving political prisoner. He was detained again from 1989 to 1991 before fleeing into exile in Norway. Once the political terrain opened up, he became one of the leaders of the “second liberation” which eventually restored multiparty democracy.

His tactical genius was on full display in 2002, when he shelved his own presidential ambition and declared “Kibaki Tosha,” uniting a fractured opposition and ending KANU’s four-decade grip on power. But the road ahead was far from smooth. The post 2002 season was defined by consistent fights within the ruling NARC party.  The disputed 2007 election plunged Kenya into violence that killed more than a thousand people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The National Accord, brokered by Kofi Annan, created a power-sharing government in which Odinga served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013. That crisis also birthed the 2010 Constitution, a document in which Odinga’s imprint is undeniable. He was the father of devolution, an expanded Bill of Rights, and judicial independence. “We brought back devolution in our constitution,” he would repeatedly remind Presidents Uhuru and Ruto, urging that counties receive sufficient resources to serve the people.

Yet Odinga’s legacy is not one of unabridged triumph. Five times he sought the presidency and five times he fell short, most narrowly in 2022, when he garnered 48.85 per cent of the vote against William Ruto’s 50.49 per cent. His decision to accept a “broad-based” government arrangement with President Ruto in 2025, which saw ODM leaders appointed to the Cabinet, drew fierce criticism from young protesters who accused him of betrayal. This followed an earlier 2018 handshake with Uhuru Kenyatta, which, while credited with calming tensions after a nullified election, was similarly seen by some as a cynical bargain that traded principle for proximity to power. Unacknowledged in that assessment is that his willingness to work with his erstwhile opponents, which commenced with the KANU/LDP merger in 1997, has created a culture of political “settlementing” that has produced much needed political stability even after fractious elections.

As we remember him, the true measure of Odinga’s legacy, lies in whether the freedoms he fought for will be preserved and institutions strengthened. Politically, the party that he built from scratch is the most visible victim of his absence, fracturing over whether to remain in President Ruto’s government, with some leaders insisting Odinga wanted them to stay and others disputing that claim. 

Devolution remains his most tangible gift, a system that, despite its flaws, has transformed how services reach the grassroots. But the unfinished business of constitutionalism, accountability, and equitable resource distribution demands ever fresh and unceasing focus. It demands the courage to defend and promote those principles, even when doing so comes at a political cost.

We all acknowledge that Raila was neither flawless nor the sole architect of Kenya’s democratic transformation. But he was certainly one of Kenya’s best sons. He was a pragmatist and a mobiliser, a man who could inspire millions and frustrate allies in equal measure. As Kenya navigates the turbulent waters of the 2027 elections and beyond, his absence is felt not as a void of personality but a gap in the world of principles. The question that lingers, one year after his passing, is not who will inherit his political empire, but who will carry the weight of the struggles that Baba never finished.

-The writer is an advocate of the High Court