Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, family sources have told the BBC.
Odinga died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India. He collapsed during a morning walk and was taken to Devamatha Hospital, which said he had suffered a cardiac arrest.
It said he did not respond to resuscitation measures and was “declared dead at 09:52” local time (04:22 GMT).
In recent weeks, there has been speculation about his health, although family members and political allies had dismissed reports suggesting he was critically ill.
President William Ruto paid tribute to Odinga as a “beacon of courage” and “father of our democracy”.
“Raila Amolo Odinga is truly a once-in-a-generation leader. A man whose ideals transcended politics, and whose legacy will shape the destiny of Kenya for generations to come,” Ruto said in a live address to the nation.
A seven-day period of mourning has also been declared. Odinga will also be accorded a state funeral with full military honours, Ruto said.
Other Kenyan politicians and world leaders have been sending their condolences, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described Odinga as a “towering statesman and a cherished friend of India”.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was a “leader who placed the interests of his country and continent first” while Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema described Odinga as “a towering advocate for democracy”, whose legacy would endure.
On Wednesday, Kenya’s parliament observed a minute’s silence in his honour and scheduled a session on Thursday for lawmakers to pay tribute.
The Kenyan president had earlier visited Odinga’s family home in Nairobi and expressed his condolences to his widow Ida Odinga and other family members.
A delegation led by Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Odinga’s widow is expected to travel to India to oversee the arrangements to repatriate his body.
Odinga’s supporters have been pouring onto the streets to mourn, especially in his political strongholds of western Kenya and parts of Nairobi.
A political mobiliser and towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. He rejected the results on each occasion, often saying that victory had been stolen from him.
He was vindicated by Kenya’s highest court after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory and ordered fresh polls. However, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.
Odinga later made up with Kenyatta, stunning the nation when the two shook hands in 2018 – ending months of tension.
—BBC
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