Raila Odinga obituary

"A man who was both divisive and revered, he came from an aristocratic political lineage. His father, Oginga Odinga, had been a leading figure in the movement for independence from Britain in 1963 and served as vice-president to the country's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, who begat his own lineage. It was Kenyatta's son, Uhuru, who defeated Raila Odinga in the 2017 presidential elections."

"But the violence reached such intensity that the African Union dispatched the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to act as mediator. Annan moved with speed, asking all other would-be mediators to leave, and promising indictments before the international criminal court for all those who continued to encourage violence. Annan also instituted a procedure that was later copied by Thabo Mbeki in the equally controversial 2008 Zimbabwe elections the insertion of the defeated presidential candidate into the role of prime minister."

"Odinga contested the presidency five times 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2022 losing each time and citing fraud on each occasion. The best known of these occasions was in 2007 when he was defeated by Mwai Kibaki. Both candidates, however, had prepared for loss or challenge against victory by forming militias that were unleashed after the result was announced. This marked the most violent episode in Kenya's independent political history."

Raila Odinga was prime minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013 and a longstanding opposition leader. He came from an aristocratic political lineage; his father, Oginga Odinga, helped secure independence from Britain in 1963 and served as vice-president to Jomo Kenyatta. Odinga contested the presidency in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022, losing each time and alleging fraud. The 2007 election produced severe violence after both main camps deployed militias. The African Union sent Kofi Annan to mediate, resulting in a power-sharing arrangement that made Odinga prime minister, a model later echoed in Zimbabwe.

Read at www.theguardian.com