In life Raila sacrificed much more than anyone else in fighting for democracy in Kenya. He was detained for nine years, the longest period for any politician, and came out with lifelong scars but still avoided using these tribulations to gain political mileage; he left others to talk about it.

Secondly, Raila had close friends from across the country of all races, creeds and tribe unlike many leaders whose friends are from small catchment areas.

At the international level, he had former and current leaders as close friends in spite of the fact that he was never a president or a minister for foreign affairs, which would provide him with the opportunities to interact with them. These include John Magufuli, Olusegun Obasanjo, Morgan Tsvangirai, Edgar Tekere, Cyril Ramaphosa, Narendra Modi and Etienne Tshisekedi. This is amazing.

Thirdly, he had a passion for sports. Hardly any of the youth know that he was a great fan of athletics. He would name Kenyan athletes, the year and places where they performed and even their performances in terms of time or height, depending on the event, something that many people forget after a few months. He had an elephantine memory.

Political differences

Fourthly, Raila had a forgiving heart. To have reconciled with four Kenyan presidents — Moi, Kibaki, Uhuru and Ruto — having had major political differences with them and having been left with the short end of the stick in all cases is profound. This is worth emulating.

Fifth, in death, the magnetism of Raila was displayed through grief, condolences and visitations to his grave to the extent that his grave could well be among the few most visited in the modern world. To get a whole orchestra from his alma mater in Germany to come and sing at his gravesite is no simple matter, considering that many leaders worldwide have studied abroad but are hardly remembered by those universities upon death.

These visitations would possibly have been compared with those of President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Osama Bin Laden, who had fanatical followings worldwide.

As fate would have it, both Gaddafi and Osama were buried at dawn in the Libyan Desert sand dunes and in the sea, respectively, by their tormentors. These were to avoid having their graves as shrines that would be visited by their followers, the way Raila’s gravesite is turning out to be.

Raila Odinga, without being a president or a religious zealot, may have had a huge and committed following close to those of Gaddafi and Osama, but we never got to realise it in his lifetime. We may have seriously underrated him.

Fare thee well, Baba.

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Mr Sogomo is an education specialist and former TSC Secretary. [email protected] @Bsogomo