PREVIEW
Heavy-handed approach to policing state funeral may increase pressure on Ruto’s coalition
Two mourners died in a stampede at Raila Odinga’s state funeral on 17 October, a day after three were killed when police opened fire and used tear gas on crowds that gathered to view the opposition leader’s body at Nairobi’s Kasarani stadium (AC Vol 66 No 21, Opposition colossus Odinga dies, leaving succession crisis).
A further 200 were injured during the funeral, according to Doctors Without Borders. Tens of thousands attended both events, with similar numbers at a gathering in Kisumu, the city on Lake Victoria that was the bedrock of Odinga’s support for more than half a century. A private burial service took place on Sunday 19 October.
The country’s most influential politician not to hold the presidency, Odinga was given a state funeral with military honours by his old foe turned ally President William Ruto, who delivered the main eulogy.
His death leaves a leadership vacuum and uncertainty about the future of the informal unity government with Ruto, which includes five cabinet members from Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Elder brother Oburu Oginga has been appointed ODM interim leader and the direction the party chooses to take may well determine the next election. Ruto had been relying on Odinga’s western and coastal support base delivering him a second term in elections in 2027.
The police’s deadly handling of mourners, which follows the crackdown against youth activists involved in the Gen Z movement, will be seen by many Kenyans as further proof of Ruto’s creeping authoritarianism. That could encourage ODM’s younger leaders, including Babu Owino and General Secretary Edwin Sifuna, to push for a break with the president (Dispatches, 28/7/25, Sifuna goes rogue as ODM splits deepen).
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