Raila was larger than life, in his death, humanising him reveals his meaning

“Haaaaayaaaaa!”

This intonation instantly elicited grins among many Kenyans, for it only meant one thing: one of the nation’s most charismatic politicians was on the stage, performing his political shows that oscillated from riddles to ribaldry.

Unsurprisingly, his death this week in Kerala, India, was not without the ironic twists that defined his life: the news of his passing would not be conveyed in Kenya’s national press that he dominated for decades, but an Indian daily; his tumultuous return, in a casket draped in a national flag, contradicted his quiet departure from his country days earlier.

And Raila Amolo Odinga’s final march, from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that was overrun by roiling swirls of his supporters, and the public holiday announced today, echoed his performative politics.

His final stand, even as he lies dead, is a public holiday, like the many that he bequeathed Kenyans to canvass his political agenda. And there was a tinge of tear gas that police used to disperse his supporters, even as tears flowed to mourn his loss.

His demise is not something that Kenyans appeared to anticipate, even at the prime age of 80, for he was omnipresent in the nation’s political life over the last half of his life. The other half, it’s safe to say, was spent preparing him for his moment, for he was in the shadow of his father, Kenya’s founding Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

The senior Odinga started out as a teacher, before getting immersed in national politics and demanding Jomo Kenyatta’s release from prison as a precondition for independence. It is this selflessness that Raila internalised.

If Jaramogi’s supreme sacrifice was sidestepping his personal ambitions when Kenya sought to break the colonial yoke in 1963, the task of liberating Kenya, erroneously christened the Second Liberation in early 1990s, fell to Raila Odinga.

That version of history, however, skips the underground movement that simmered through the 1970s and early 1980s, in the aftermath of the assassinations of Pio Gama Pinto, Jaramogi’s personal assistant, followed by the murder of Tom Mboya and J.M Kariuki.

Things came to a head in August 1982 when, in the aftermath of the abortive military coup, Raila was detained without trial, marking the beginning of a nine-year-long detention during which his mother died and was buried without his knowledge.

In a certain sense, that’s when Raila came into his own, away from his father’s shadow, unsuccessfully wresting the control of his party after Jaramogi’s death in 1994 at the age of 82.

Instead, Raila cut his own path, forming his own political party—the first of the many configurations that he would make or unmake with ease, brokering deals with his former jailer, President Daniel arap Moi—before leaving in a huff and wrecking Kanu from within.

That moment was described as “cooperation,” which evolved to “grand coalition” with Mwai Kibaki, even though it felt more like “grand collision” in the aftermath of post-poll violence in which more than 1,300 Kenyans were killed in politically-instigated attacks.

Raila’s later compromise, first with Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 that was characterised as “handshake,” and a similar arrangement with William Ruto last year, was seen by young Kenyans as a disappointing climb-down of the nation’s moral compass who had suffered detention and exile in service of democracy.

Raila’s explanation that he had stepped forward to rescue the Kenya Kwanza government from capitulation contradicted the youthful politician who had attempted a power grab 40 years earlier, followed by five unsuccessful stabs at the presidency.

Now that he’s gone from our midst, the true meaning of Raila’s life will be revealed if we humanise him by accepting his mortality, and offering our gratitude for his life. For he had long survived diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease to serve his country and countrymen with verve.

Now, we let him return to Bondo to lay beside his mother, marking his transition from the public to private arena. His work is done.