Thousands of mourners stormed Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Thursday, disrupting a ceremony to receive the body of Kenya’s veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga. The 80-year-old political icon died on Wednesday in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment.
Odinga, a towering figure in Kenyan politics for decades, was a former political prisoner who ran unsuccessfully for president five times. He also served as prime minister from 2008 and, in a career marked by shifting alliances, formed a political pact with President William Ruto last year.
President Ruto and other senior officials were at the airport to receive Odinga’s body with military honours when mourners waving flags and twigs broke through security barriers and flooded the tarmac. Some rode motorbikes onto the airside, interrupting part of the ceremony as the coffin was being removed from the plane’s cargo hold.
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The commotion forced airport authorities to suspend operations for about two hours before order was restored.
Elsewhere in the capital, crowds of Odinga’s supporters gathered outside parliament, where a public viewing of his body had been scheduled. The event was later relocated to a Nairobi sports stadium, according to his party.
Odinga commanded deep loyalty, particularly among his Luo ethnic group in western Kenya, many of whom have long believed he was denied the presidency through electoral malpractice. His death has plunged the nation into mourning, as thousands continue to take to the streets in his honour.
