肯尼亚哀悼拉伊拉·奥廷加

Country OfficeKenya Kenyamourns Raila Odinga What does his death mean for political developments in Kenya? Mathias Kamp,Eva-Maria Okot „If you die, thereisnothing to fear. Why? Because you either goto heaven or hell. If you go to heaven there is nothing to worryabout. Even if you go to hell, there is nothing to worry about:you will find many of your friendsthere.“ (Raila Odinga on 10 November 2023 in his speech at the Kon-rad Adenauer Foundation's ‘Transforming a Nation’ conferencein Nairobi, Kenya) Raila Amolo Odinga, former prime minister and long-time opposition leader in Kenya, hasdied. At the age of 80, he succumbed to cardiac arrest in a hospital in India, where he wasreceiving treatment. With his death, Kenya loses one of its most formative and influential po-litical figures and arguably its most prominent citizen of the last three decades. Odinga, who was born on 7 January 1945 in the Kisumu district of western Kenya, came fromone of the country's most prominent political families. He was the son of Jaramogi OgingaOdinga, one of the leading activists in the struggle for independence and later Vice-Presidentof Kenya. Affectionately known as ‘Baba’ (father in Kiswahili) by his many supporters,RailaOdinga not only became the epitome of the Kenyan opposition, but also a key influence onthe country's often bumpy democratic development. The news of his death plunged the entirecountry into mourning and, in some parts, into a state of emergency. While his supporters saw him as a symbol of resistance against the abuse of power, criticsaccused him of permanently damaging trust in institutions such as the electoral commissionand the judiciary by constantly refusing to recognise election results. These legitimacy deficitscontinue to have an impact even after his death and pose a major challenge to Kenya's politi-cal stability. In the mourning for his death, criticism of him as a person tends to fade into the background.The president has declared a period of national mourning and a public holiday. In the capitalNairobi and in Kisumu, public life came to a virtual standstill fora time. Even if the impact onpolitical developments in Kenya remains to be seen, one thing is clear to all Kenyans: RailaOdinga's death represents a turning point whose significance can hardly be overestimated. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. Thurid Neumann Policy Advisor-East AfricaandMigrationKonrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlinthurid.neumann@kas.de The text of this publication is published under aCreative Commons license: “Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 4.0 international” (CC BY-SA 4.0),https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode