Vast crowds flooded the streets of Kisumu on Saturday to bid farewell to Raila Odinga, the veteran Kenyan politician whose death has shaken the nation.
Tens of thousands gathered at the city’s stadium, crying “Baba” and “We are orphans” as Odinga’s coffin arrived by helicopter from Nairobi.
The 80-year-old opposition leader, revered by many as the face of Kenya’s democratic struggle, died in India on Wednesday of a suspected heart attack.
In Kisumu, mourners climbed walls and broke through barriers to glimpse his coffin, while emergency teams treated over a hundred people for fainting and exhaustion.
Authorities cancelled a planned procession to avoid stampedes after deadly incidents earlier in the week claimed at least five lives in Nairobi and during the state funeral led by President William Ruto.
“Without Baba, we are dead. We don’t have anywhere to go,” said Don Pelido, a young supporter pressed against the barriers.
Odinga’s body was flown from India on Thursday, later lying in state in Kisumu before being moved to his ancestral home in Bondo, Siaya County, for burial on Sunday.
For many Kenyans, Odinga’s death marks the end of an era. He served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 and was instrumental in restoring multi-party democracy and shaping the 2010 constitution.
Yet his passing leaves a leadership vacuum in the opposition and uncertainty over the future of his political movement.
“We have not accepted that he is really gone. It is still a bad dream,” said Maureen Owesi, a shop owner in Kisumu.
As the nation mourns, questions loom over Kenya’s political direction and the fragile unity he struggled to build.
