Odinga passed away on Wednesday, October 15, during his medical treatment in a hospital in India.
Recently, there were speculations regarding his health, though political and family allies had dismissed stories that suggested he was in a critical condition. World leaders as well as politicians such as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have been mourning his death.
A pioneer political mobilizer and giant of Kenyan politics, Odinga ran for the presidency five times without success. He challenged the outcome every time, often alleging the win had been stolen from him.
He was vindicated by Kenya's supreme court in 2017 after the election when it nullified Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered a new election. But he boycotted the repeat, demanding electoral reforms.
The disputed election of 2007, where Odinga claimed that he was denied his win by Mwai Kibaki, led to Kenya's biggest crisis.
Violence erupted countrywide and 1,200 people were assassinated and about 600,000 people were driven from their homes.
In order to bring the crisis to an end, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan mediated a sharing of power, leading to a unity government where Odinga was appointed prime minister.
He has consistently reconciled with the sitting president after bitter elections.
After his recent loss in 2022, he then joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad government, where some of his allies took key positions.
He defended the move as necessary for national unity, coming in the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests last year that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters were killed in confrontations with security officers.
The Ruto administration backed Odinga’s bid to become chairperson of the African Union Commission, in elections held earlier this year. Despite strong regional support, he lost to Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
Odinga gained an ardent and dedicated following during his political career, especially in western Kenya, to which he belonged.
They called him "Baba" (Father), "Agwambo" (Act of God), and "Tinga" (Tractor) – names adopted from his party symbol during the 1997 election.
He was widely respected as a great tactician and mobiliser of the masses, often drawing record attendance to his electoral campaigns, and he possessed an intense ability to connect with ordinary people.
He will be remembered for his uncompromising fight for democratic freedoms and human rights.
He was a political detainee in the past, and is Kenya's longest-detained prisoner. His struggle against one-party rule saw him being detained twice (between 1982 and 1988, and between 1989 and 1991) by the government of Daniel arap Moi.
He was initially imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in 1982, which brought him to national prominence.
Source: BBC.com