ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has said the country remains deeply affected by the death of veteran politician Raila Odinga nearly three months after his passing, describing him as a larger-than-life leader whose influence on Kenya may never fade.
In a statement issued on Raila’s birthday, Sifuna said many Kenyans are still struggling to come to terms with the loss, noting that the former Prime Minister’s stature and contribution to the nation make it difficult to fully move on.
“As it is his birthday today, we pause in mourning, reflection and gratitude to celebrate the life of the most iconic leader this nation has ever produced,” Sifuna said.
He described the 80 years Raila lived as a period defined by courage, sacrifice and an uncompromising belief in freedom and justice, ideals that he said Raila pursued relentlessly throughout his political life.
However, Sifuna warned that in the months following Raila’s death, the principles that guided his politics are increasingly under threat.
He cited what he termed a growing culture of impunity, intolerance, dictatorship and silence in the face of threats to multiparty democracy.
The ODM Secretary General hailed Raila as the country’s foremost second-liberation figure and the acknowledged father of multiparty democracy and the 2010 Constitution, which ushered in devolution and equitable sharing of national resources.
He said multiparty democracy was intended to protect free expression and political choice, allowing parties to retain distinct identities and ideologies. Sifuna noted that this conviction informed Raila’s insistence on including respect for multiparty democracy and party independence in the memorandum of understanding he signed with President William Ruto.
According to Sifuna, Raila’s death has created room for political regression and a shrinking democratic space, leaving the country yearning for his wisdom and unmatched political foresight.
Despite the challenges, Sifuna called on leaders mentored by Raila to stand firm and lead a new political renaissance anchored on the Constitution’s values of democracy, social justice, equality and the rule of law.
“Raila Odinga stood with the oppressed, spoke truth to power and placed country before self, even at great personal cost,” he said.
ODM leaders and supporters, he added, have renewed their commitment to uphold Raila’s ideals, saying the best way to honour his memory is to remain on the path he charted.
“Happy birthday Baba,” Sifuna concluded.