Raila Junior installation as head of Odinga family marks end of the mourning period

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga has joined Kenyans in acknowledging the symbolic installation of Raila Odinga Junior as the new head of the Odinga family following the passing of former passing former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga.

“We have witnessed the installation of Raila Odinga Junior as the new head of the family following the passing of the late Raila Odinga. In accordance with Luo culture, this symbolic ceremony marks the end of the mourning period,” Ms Wanga said.

She added, “May God provide strength to the family — Min Piny Mama Ida, Junior, Rosemary, Winnie, and the entire Jaramogi Oginga Odinga family.”

Ms Wanga accompanied Royal Media Services Chairman SK Macharia during his condolence visit to the family’s Bondo home.

Mr Macharia said, “There is no one else we know who has contributed as much to this country as [Raila] Odinga did. Perhaps there will be another like him in the future, but for now, we wait.”

The traditional ceremony, held on Th in Bondo, Siaya County, followed the burial of Raila Odinga, who died in India earlier this month while receiving medical treatment.

According to Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga, the event was “rooted in ritual and guided by time-honoured customs” and served as a cultural, not political, transition.

Raila Junior was presented with a traditional Luo shield and draped in an animal-skin cloak in line with community tradition.

The Odinga family, one of Kenya’s most influential political lineages, traces its leadership roots to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President, and later to his son Raila Odinga, who shaped the country’s opposition politics for decades.

With the passing of [Raila] Odinga, political analysts note that a major question now looms over the succession of leadership within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a party he led for over two decades.

However, family members and close allies have emphasised that Thursday’s ceremony was purely cultural and not linked to party succession.