For nearly three decades, Raila Amollo Odinga stood at the heart of Kenya’s most defining political battles — a man who came close to power more times than anyone in the country’s history, yet never quite claimed the prize.

Across five presidential elections — 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022 — Odinga’s campaigns captured both the frustrations and aspirations of a changing nation. His journey was not merely about votes and victories, but about reshaping Kenya’s democracy itself.

His first bid, under the National Development Party (NDP) in 1997, introduced him as a national contender. A decade later, his 2007 run under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) would define his political identity. The disputed results that followed plunged the nation into violence, claiming more than a thousand lives — a tragedy that forced the creation of a coalition government in which Odinga served as Prime Minister under President Mwai Kibaki.

In 2013 and 2017, Odinga faced Uhuru Kenyatta in tightly contested races, both marked by controversy and legal battles. When he ran again in 2022 against William Ruto, he carried the weight of history — the veteran reformer seeking one last chance. He fell short once more.

Yet Odinga’s story cannot be told through the lens of loss alone. His fingerprints are embedded in Kenya’s political evolution — from the fight for multiparty democracy in the 1990s to the birth of devolution under the 2010 Constitution.

In 2024, Odinga turned his ambitions to the continental stage, declaring his bid for Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Backed by President William Ruto, he campaigned across Africa but lost in the February 2025 election to Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.

Despite his defeats, Odinga’s influence endured — as a reformer, a coalition-builder, and a relentless believer in a fairer Kenya.

Raila Odinga died on October 15, 2025, in India, aged 80. His name remains inseparable from Kenya’s long, unfinished story of democracy.