Raila Odinga lost the August 2022 Kenyan presidential election to William Ruto, failed to overturn it at the Supreme Court and led protests in 2023. From 2024 the two cooperated in what Ruto called a broad-based government, Ruto backed Odinga's unsuccessful African Union bid, and Odinga died in India on October 15, 2025.
Odinga died on October 15, 2025 and was buried in Bondo on October 19. His Orange Democratic Movement, now led by his brother Oburu Oginga, remains in the broad-based arrangement with Ruto but is divided over its terms, and The Star reported in late October 2026 that a joint committee of the two parties was negotiating a written pre-election agreement for 2027.
The chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission declared Ruto president-elect with 7,176,141 votes (50.49%) against 6,942,930 (48.85%) for Odinga, and the declaration was published in the Kenya Gazette the next day. Four of the seven commissioners disowned the result, calling the final tally opaque.
Odinga, in his fifth run for the presidency, called the declared figures null and void and said he would pursue all legal options.
Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua filed Presidential Election Petition E005 of 2022 at the Supreme Court, challenging the result and the process behind it. On August 30 the court consolidated it with six other petitions.
The seven-judge Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, unanimously dismissed the consolidated petitions and declared Ruto's election valid. It found no evidence that results had been tampered with through hacking of the commission's servers, and it gave its detailed reasons on September 26, 2022.
Odinga said on Twitter within an hour of the ruling that he respected the court but disagreed with its decision.
Ruto welcomed the ruling and promised to run an inclusive administration.
Ruto was sworn in as Kenya's fifth president in a ceremony attended by several African leaders. Odinga stayed away.
Odinga began a series of rallies across the country urging supporters to reject the Ruto administration over living costs and the 2022 vote.
After a 14-day ultimatum expired, Odinga's supporters began protests on Mondays and Thursdays, despite a government ban, over living costs and alleged electoral malpractice.
In a live televised address Ruto asked Odinga to call off the next day's protests, said three people had been killed and more than 400 injured, and proposed a bipartisan process on the electoral commission.
Odinga suspended the protests the same evening to allow dialogue, while warning they could resume if talks failed.
Odinga's Azimio coalition resumed street protests on July 7, 2023 and later called three days of protests from July 19, Human Rights Watch reported.
Ruto described the protests as lawlessness and said it would not be business as usual, according to Human Rights Watch, which urged officials to stop threatening protesters.
The National Dialogue Committee, co-chaired by Kalonzo Musyoka for the opposition and Kimani Ichung'wah for the government side, presented its final report. Members disagreed over scrapping the housing levy and cutting fuel tax.
Odinga declared he would run for chairperson of the African Union Commission. Ruto was understood to back his candidacy, The EastAfrican reported.
As part of what he called a broad-based government, Ruto nominated four figures from Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement to his cabinet, including John Mbadi for the Treasury and Opiyo Wandayi for energy.
Ruto led the launch of Odinga's candidacy for the African Union Commission at State House, Nairobi, with the presidents of South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda present.
Djibouti's foreign minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf was elected chairperson of the African Union Commission. Odinga led the first two rounds of voting, trailed Youssouf from the third and was dropped after the sixth, The Star reported.
Ruto and Odinga signed a memorandum of understanding between Ruto's United Democratic Alliance and Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
Odinga died aged 80 after collapsing during a morning walk and being taken to Devamatha Hospital, about 50km east of Kochi. The hospital said he suffered a cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 09:52 local time.
Ruto declared seven days of national mourning and a state funeral with full military honours, describing Odinga as a beacon of courage and father of Kenyan democracy.
Rights group Vocal Africa told the BBC that three people were killed after police fired gunshots and tear gas in the stadium in Kasarani, Nairobi, where crowds who had escorted Odinga's body from the airport had gathered to view it.
The Orange Democratic Movement's National Executive Committee named Odinga's elder brother, Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga, acting party leader with immediate effect.
At the state funeral at Nyayo National Stadium, Ruto praised Odinga's legacy for multi-party democracy. The government declared the day a public holiday in Odinga's honour. Two mourners died later as crowds surged at the lying in state, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres.
Odinga was buried at his family homestead in Bondo. Ruto attended and described him as a unifier. At least five people were killed during the week of mourning events, Al Jazeera reported.
The party's National Governing Council approved Oburu Oginga as party leader at a special sitting in Mombasa, Citizen Digital reported on November 13, pending approval by the National Delegates Convention.
The United Democratic Alliance's National Executive Committee authorised Ruto to open formal coalition talks with ODM ahead of the 2027 election, days after an ODM committee chaired by Oburu Oginga resolved to begin pre-election talks with UDA.
ODM's National Executive Committee removed Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as secretary-general. Al Jazeera reported that Sifuna had opposed closer cooperation with Ruto.
Ruto commissioned the Raila Amolo Odinga Mausoleum at Kang'o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, eight days before the first anniversary of Odinga's death, with Odinga's widow and family members present, The Standard reported.
Opposition leaders, Odinga's widow and thousands of mourners gathered at Migwena grounds in Bondo to mark a year since his death. Ruto, who had been expected as chief guest, did not attend, The Eastleigh Voice reported, citing his published programme.
Senior ODM figures demanded that any pre-election arrangement with Ruto's United Democratic Alliance guarantee a 50-50 share of government, including the running mate slot, and an ODM lawmaker said a joint committee of the two parties would produce a written agreement, The Star reported.
“We respect the opinion of the court although we vehemently disagree with their decision today”
“The court returned its verdict and I welcome it with tremendous humility”
| 2022 result | Ruto 7,176,141 votes (50.49%), Odinga 6,942,930 (48.85%) |
| Election petition | Presidential Election Petition E005 of 2022, filed August 22, 2022, dismissed September 5, 2022, detailed reasons September 26, 2022 |
| Cooperation | Four ODM figures nominated to cabinet July 24, 2024, UDA and ODM pact signed March 7, 2025 |
| AU Commission vote | Lost to Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on February 15, 2025 |
| Death | October 15, 2025, near Kochi, India, aged 80 |
| Burial | October 19, 2025, at the family homestead in Bondo |
William Ruto chose Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate in 2022, and the pair won the presidency. After a public break in 2024, Parliament impeached and removed Gachagua,...
In April 2023 police in Kilifi County, Kenya, began finding starving followers of the Good News International Ministries and graves in Shakahola forest, and a Senate comm...
Safaricom began as the mobile arm of state-owned Telkom Kenya, was licensed in 1999 and launched commercially in October 2000 with Vodafone as a major shareholder. Its M-...
Last updated 31 October 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.