Raila Odinga's last 72 hours

When the late Raila Amolo Odinga took his final morning walk in Kochi, India, it appeared as a routine outing: steady stride, straight composure and a calm face.

Behind him, in a now viral video on social media, his bodyguard Maurice Ogeta followed him briskly. The viral phone video of Raila walking in Kochi, humanised his last minutes.

His collapse minutes later would mark the beginning of a 72-hour journey that blended private wishes, public grief and a State ceremony.

At 80, Raila was receiving treatment for his long-standing ailments, including diabetes, hypertension and kidney complications. He had travelled to Sreedhariyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre in Koothattukulam accompanied by his sister Ruth Odinga, daughter Winnie Odinga, a personal doctor, and security aides. 

Raila’s decision to seek treatment in India stemmed from an incident in 2021 when his 47-year-old daughter Rosemary Odinga regained sight after treatment at the eye hospital-cum-research centre.

The hospital is located in the Koothattukulam area of  Ernakulam in India. Following his daughter’s recovery, Raila personally travelled to India in February 2022 to thank staff and doctors at the hospital.

Rosemary had lost her sight completely following optic nerve damage in 2017. Treatments done in South Africa, Israel, and China were futile.

After the collapse at the eye centre, Raila was rushed to nearby Devamatha Hospital where he died as doctors tried to save his life. 

According to the hospital’s senior cardiologist Sister Alphonse, Raila’s sudden cardiac arrest was unexpected but inevitable given the underlying conditions.

In a brief statement to Kenyan media, Dr Sister Alphonse noted that while the event was catastrophic, it was consistent with heart-related fatalities in older patients with multiple old age related conditions.  

“We are very sorry to inform that he is no more with us and our very sincere condolences and prayers for his family and for the Kenyan people.” Alphons told ANI news, South Asia’s leading multimedia news agency.

According to the cardiologist, efforts save the collapsed Raila included Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) protocols and continuous Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). CPR had already been initiated by his attending doctor Oluoch Olunya.

The medical team continued resuscitation and performed an emergency intubation, where they placed a tube in his windpipe to aid in breathing, even though the doctor says there was no pulse and the  blood pressure was too low to be recorded on their machines.

The doctors moved Odinga into the  ICU, where they could notice a heart rhythm on the monitor, showing ST elevation in the anterior electrocardiogram leads, along with regional wall motion abnormalities, indicating reduced movement (hypokinesia) in the left anterior descending artery territory.

Security personnel

The doctors then stabilised Raila with intravenous fluids on his left hand. Due to his earlier condition with DVT, for which he had an inferior vena cava filter, and a recent thin subdural hematoma, the doctors injected Raila with drugs to dissolve any blood clots that could have formed in his body.

In their medical report, the doctors wrote:

“Raila Amollo, 80 years old and former Kenyan Prime Minister, was brought to our casual emergency medicine department in the morning after suddenly collapsing during his morning walk at Sreetajiyam, an Ayurvedic hospital nearby. CPR had already been started, and he was brought in with active CPR.”

The doctors noted the presence of his security personnel as well as private doctors and further wrote down the procedures they took to save his life.

“Initially, there was no pulse or recordable blood pressure, even upon palpation. After intubation and continued CPR, we shifted the patient to our ICU with all staff and facilities. In the ICU, after some time, a heart rhythm appeared on the monitor, showing ST elevation in the anterior electrocardiogram leads, along with regional wall motion abnormalities, indicating reduced movement (hypokinesia) in the left anterior descending artery territories,” the doctors said.

Immediately after Raila’s death, at 9:52am in India, (7:22am in Kenya), the Indian government  through  India’s Ministry of External Affairs (CPV Division) sent formal diplomatic notifications to Kenya’s Ambassador to India, Peter Munyiri.

Diplomatic cable

“The Ministry of External Affairs (CPV Division), Government of India presents its compliments to the Kenya High Commission in New Delhi and regret to inform the death of H.E Raila Amollo Odinga. Raila Odinga collapsed while walking with his personal security team and was immediately taken to Devamatha Hospital in Koothattukulam, where he passed away at 9:52am local time,” the diplomatic notification read.

Mr Munyiri immediately sent a diplomatic cable to Nairobi and embarked on a three hours ten minutes direct flight from New Delhi to Kochi.

In Nairobi, President William Ruto responded to the news of the death with a declaration of a period of national mourning and announced a State funeral.

“It is with deep sorrow that I inform the nation of the passing of the Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga,” the President said in his announcement, stressing both the personal loss and the national debt owed to the man who was the heartbeat of the Kenyan political scene for decades.

Shortly after his passing on,  the Odinga family invoked a private instruction in his will: the wish to be laid to rest within 72 hours.

Within the Luo community which Raila personified, the question as to how to honour a private wish without short-changing a public hero arose. Some elders voiced concern and one Michael Onyango Otieno even went to court to challenge the three day mourning period citing violation of Luo cultural traditions. The courts threw the case out.

Back in Kochi, hospital efforts were tightly managed and communicated. Ambassador Munyiri’s presence and instructions from the government had helped contain rampant speculation.

In coordination with the Indian government, Munyiri organised a military jet courtesy of the Indian Army that flew Raila’s remains from Kochi to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. From there, a Kenya Airways flight picked up Baba’s body.

Back in Kenya, Ida Odinga, Raila’s wife, emerged in media appeals asking for calm.

“I appeal to our people that we must mourn Raila Odinga in peace,” she told journalists gathered at the family home in Nairobi’s Karen neighbourhood. The family sought to protect its private spaces from the crush of fans and mourners.

Ida’s plea gave shape to a wider plan: the body would lie in-state for a short while, then move  to Bondo for burial at a site beside Raila’s father Jaramogi Oginga and son Fidel Odinga.

The arrival of the body in Nairobi brought the capital to a standstill.

“Flight KQ202 became a digital ghost, its path a thin blue line across the Indian Ocean tracked by a global audience. On Flightradar24, it climbed to become the most-tracked flight in the world, with over 7,000 people monitoring its progress, a silent, global vigil for a Kenyan giant. Kenya Airways announced that upon entering Kenyan airspace, the flight KQ203 would be renamed RAO001, in honour of the man’s initials,” Journalist Tony Anelka noted.

On the podium at Kasarani Stadium on December 10, 2021, Ida held her husband’s right hand, raised it to the air and declared to an expectant mammoth crowd:

“I give him to you. I have released him to you.” as cheers, chants, whistles and vuvuzelas rent the air. Raila had formally announced his presidential bid for the 2022 polls.

1406 days later, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenyans took Mrs Odinga’s words to heart. Braving at searing temperatures that ranged between 24 to 26 degrees celsius, a choking humidity of 49 per cent, thousands of Kenyans took over the transport arrangements for the remains of their hero Raila.

At the airport, official protocol was cast aside as retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Ruto stood at a distance, unable to accord their last respects to Baba. The people were in charge. The guard of honour set to be performed by the military as Baba’s body was offloaded, was blocked by mourners. The people were in control.

The carefully scripted official programme detailing Baba’s arrival, body preparation at Lee Funeral Home and later viewing at Parliament was discarded. The people were the decision makers.

From the gates to the runways, thousands had gathered since dawn, many draped in orange, waving flags and portraits of the man they fondly called Baba. Chants of “Baba! Baba!” echoed across the tarmac, merging with the distant hum of jet engines.

Tears streamed freely as the casket, draped in the Kenyan flag, was slowly offloaded, marking the return of a leader who had spent decades fighting for democracy and justice.

Many bore palm branches and twigs, while chants, hymns, and songs reverberated through the air in a moving tribute. Tears flowed freely among the crowd, with many overcome by the weight of the moment as the nation collectively grieved one of its most influential leaders.

So massive was the outpouring of emotion that security barriers briefly gave way, as mourners surged forward for one last glimpse of a man who left an indelible mark on the country’s political fabric. Mourners breached security and got into the runways, boarding planes and riding motorcycles on the airside as security personnel watched helplessly.

In an unprecedented move, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) temporarily closed Kenya’s airspace, from 10:26am to 12:26pm, citing the need for enhanced security rescreening.

“This essential measure is to facilitate an enhanced security rescreening operation following the arrival of the remains of the late Raila Odinga, former Prime Minister of Kenya. The safety and security of our passengers, staff, and all airport users is our highest priority, and this action is part of our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest security standards,” KAA wrote.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, who has 104,080 active police officers under his command, watched helplessly as the people took over JKIA, the seventh busiest airport in Africa. He fell back.

Chief of Defence Forces General Charles Kahariri, who leads what is ranked the 11th most powerful army in Africa and 83rd globally, with more than 50,000 highly trained soldiers, could not convince Kenyans to let  the military perform a ceremonial guard of honour for Raila. He fell back.

Mrs Odinga, who accepted the white panama hat, Raila’s favorite headgear from her last born daughter Winnie, stood stoically, the pain in her eyes hidden behind sunglasses, barely holding her composure as people took over the arrangements for her husband’s body.

A woman who for years has suffered major personal setbacks, an imprisoned husband, the death of a child,  losing five presidential elections, but always bounced back, Baba’s death seemed to be one thing she couldn’t bounce back from.

She looked frail and tired. It was the first time since her son Fidel Odinga’s death,  Kenyans were  seeing tears flowing down her face. As Mrs Odinga said in 2021, Baba didn’t belong to her, or her children, he belonged to the people.

The procession, carrying Raila’s coffin in a meticulously polished military gun carriage, left the airport at 10:30am. Four hours later, at 2:30pm, the convoy had only managed to snake its way upto General Motors area, a distance of 6 kilometres, translating to 2.5 kilometres per hour.

By Friday, just two days after Raila’s death in far-flung India and a day after the arrival of his body in the country,  the State had set in motion a public programme: a prayer service at Nairobi’s Nyayo Stadium, a view-and-pay-respects schedule, and finally the transfer to Kisumu and then his Bondo home for funeral. 

During the Nyayo Stadium service, speakers strove to reconcile the man’s private desire for a quick burial with the public’s need to mourn. President Ruto spoke of a national debt owed to Raila; his brother Oburu Odinga told family stories of struggle and sacrifice.

Time and again the speeches returned to a phrase in the will: laid to rest within 72 hours.   Winnie paid tribute to her father at Nyayo National Stadium, offering a glimpse into those last moments.

“I was with him in India when he took his last breath. He died in my arms, but he did not die as people have been saying on social media,” Winnie told mourners. “Every day he was waking up and walking one round, then two rounds the next day. That morning, he pushed to five rounds. He died strong and with dignity and pride, and you must be proud of that,” she told the nation.

The political landscape after Raila’s passing remains uncertain.

“Kenya will never be the same. Millions of hearts have been broken, mourning the passing of a leader who was never allowed to be President. And yet he still remained beloved for many more years than any president ever was, because Kenyans knew he was the one making sacrifices and fighting for a better life for them by reducing our gross inequalities,” Veteran communications specialist Salim Lone, a longtime spokesperson for Odinga, noted. 

“While all our presidents curtailed our freedoms and rights to entrench their power and wealth, Raila’s vast popular following allowed him, without ever holding power, to enlarge democracy and inclusion for the struggling masses and the marginalised communities that languished in the farthest corners of this great land. That is why, despite at least twice winning the presidency, it was the loser who was announced the winner, ” Lome added.