Mourners bid farewell to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in his political heartland

Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in the Kenyan city of Kisumu to pay their respects to late Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The 80-year-old’s body now lies in a stadium in his political heartland following his state funeral in the capital Nairobi on Friday – two days after he died in hospital in India.

Security forces are on high alert following the deaths of at least five people at events held in Odinga’s honor in recent days.

“I came here to mourn an icon of Africa,” one mourner, Dixon Ochieng, told the BBC, while others could be heard shouting “we are orphans” in their grief.

People of all ages started arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu before dawn on Saturday to pay their respects.

Many wore orange – the party color of his Orange Democratic Movement – and waved branches, a traditional symbol of mourning and grief among the Luo ethnic group to which Odinga belonged.

Odinga was the main opposition leader in the country for many years, losing five presidential campaigns – the last three years ago. He has repeatedly said he was cheated out of winning, citing vote rigging.

After a bloody and contested election in 2007, he became prime minister in a unity government.

He is considered one of the founding fathers of Kenya’s multi-party democracy and has a devoted following in the western part of the country.

“I remember him for giving us democracy, for giving me our freedom – and now we can speak and we can say anything we see that is bad for us,” Jacob Omondi told the BBC about Odinga’s impact on the country.

Another mourner, David Uma, said: “What I learned from Raila is to be resilient because Raila has always been a very resilient leader through all the elections… he still rose to try again, to try again.”

Among the dignitaries who paid tribute to Odinga was former US President Barack Obama, whose Kenyan family is also from the area.

“Raila Odinga was a true defender of democracy. A child of independence, he endured decades of struggle and sacrifice for the wider cause of freedom and self-government in Kenya,” Mr Obama wrote to X.

“Time and time again, I have personally seen him put the interests of his country ahead of his own ambitions. Like few other leaders anywhere, he was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without compromising his core values,” Mr. Obama said.

Odinga is expected to be laid to rest on Sunday after a private funeral at his farm in Bondo, about 60 km (40 miles) west of Kisumu.

According to the family, he wanted to be laid to rest as soon as possible, ideally within 72 hours.