President William Ruto has been leading Kenyan tributes to former prime minister Raila Odinga who died at a hospital in India on Wednesday aged 80.
Ruto has since declared seven days of national mourning for Odinga whose father Oginga Odinga was one of Kenya’s first post-independence leaders who served under late President Jomo Kenyatta in the early 1960s.
In a speech shortly after Odinga’s death from cardiac arrest was confirmed by his family, President Ruto said: ”We are blessed to live in a country that has been shaped by the will, the leadership, and the vision of the Right Hon Raila Odinga. With an unshakable faith in the values of our country and the character of our people, Hon Raila Odinga fought for our democracy and led the path towards our new constitutional order”.
He described Odinga as ”a peacemaker who always put country first” while ”his optimism, strength, and humility epitomised the Kenyan spirit”.
Ruto said Odinga who stood for president and lost five time ”always believed that our best days are yet to come…his was a path walked with conviction”.
Ruto added: ”He bore the scars of struggle with dignity, knowing that freedom was not free and that truth often demands sacrifice”.
He said the late Kenyan statesman’s life ”was a testament to the enduring power of a vision grounded in the ideals of democracy, justice, and unity”.
The Kenyan leader said Odinga’s legacy in Kenya, Africa and on the world stage would be as a patriot, a pan-Africanist, a global statesman and a quintessential progressive reformer, who fought for the ideals of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and inclusivity and economic opportunity for all.
President Ruto, an ally of Mr Odinga campaigned vigorously for him in his failed bid to become the African Union Commission Chairperson.
Meanwhile tributes from other personalities have been pouring in including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who said Odinga was a true statesman whose genuine friendship with his country will be cherished forever.
WN/as/APA