Raila Odinga on December 20, 2025 carries a spear to participate in the 'Tero buru' cultural activity during the Luo Tourism and Cultural Festival in Kisumu.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was a man of many firsts and many names – he was rarely referred to by just one. They called him Jakom, an honorific that acknowledged his authority as party leader and de facto leader of the Luo, a figure expected to steer the political ship.
They called him Agwambo, meaning the unpredictable one, because his political moves often surprised even his allies. In the 1990s, he became Tinga, the tractor, born from the symbol of his National Development Party, suggesting a workhorse ploughing through obstacles.
Raila Odinga supporters during Azimio La Umoja election campaigns.
And in 2014, after a months-long trip to the US, the country greeted him with #BabaWhileYouWereAway and the name ‘Baba’ – meaning ‘father’. For a younger generation, he was simply RAO, a crisp tag that summarises his three names, Raila Amolo Odinga.
In the Luo community, he was Owad gi Akinyi (Akinyi's brother), attributed to his sister Wenwa Akinyi Odinga, and was wrapped in a national figure in the intimacy of family. He was also referred to as Okew gi Oneya (Oneya's nephew), traced him back to his mother's people in Alego, the way relatives naturally address a son of the lineage. He was also called Wuod Nyar Alego, meaning the son of a woman from Alego.
A Raila Odinga supporter holds up a hammer with the name 'baba' written on it on August 6, 2022 at Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi during election campaigns.
There were years when he was referred to as Nyundo, a symbol of his political party.
In moments of grief, he reached for Jowi, the Luo rally cry that gathered mourners into a single voice. Meanwhile, Doyen captured his seniority and mastery after decades in the political arena.
Above all, he was an Enigma, the label from Babafemi Badejo's biography that the public embraced for a career hard to sum up: a politician close yet distant, steady in purpose but unpredictable in approach.
Raila was known by several nicknames across different regions in Kenya. He was once fondly called Arap Mibei, a Kalenjin name meaning “son of the lake.” The name symbolised his political closeness to the Rift Valley during his alliance with William Ruto in the run-up to the 2007 elections.
When he backed Mwai Kibaki’s presidential bid in 2002 and accompanied him to Central Kenya under the “Kibaki Tosha” declaration, supporters affectionately nicknamed him “Njamba,” meaning “hero,” then symbolising his political kinship with the region.
The most recent was Joshua, a name signifying his role in saving Kenyans.
Azimio Leader Raila Odinga attends the burial of Ker Willis Opiyo Otondi, the chairman of the Luo Council of Elders, in Kisumu County.
These names formed a map of how Kenyans saw the late Raila Odinga: leader and kinsman, father-figure, and a seasoned politician.
Mr Odinga died at 80 on Wednesday morning in the southern Indian city of Kochi, with the Indian press reporting that he suffered a cardiac arrest during a morning walk.
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