Dozens injured, heavy security in Kenya as Odinga mourned before burial

As a result of the large crowds that gathered to view the body of revered former prime minister Raila Odinga at a memorial event in Kenya’s western city of Kisumu, hundreds of people were reported as a result of local media reports.

Despite authorities using military vehicles, police, and aerial surveillance to stop a recurrence of deadly and chaotic incidents that marked earlier memorial proceedings on Thursday and Friday, the injuries happened on Saturday at Jomo Kenyata International Stadium.

As the crowds swarmed inside the facility, Kenya Red Cross teams treated those who had exhausted and were in agony and managed to avoid casualties.

Zealots of people from all over the area gathered to pay their respects on Sunday as Odinga’s body was transported through Kisumu to his ancestral home in nearby Bondo for burial.

At least five people were killed by violence and chaos during the 80-year-old opposition leader and statesman’s memorial procession on Wednesday in Kerala, India.

Raila Odinga was praised by Kisumu Governor Anyang ‘ Nyong’o for his lifelong service to Kenyans, noting that thousands of people “thronged” Jomo Kenyatta Stadium-Mamboleo in his honor.

As the arrangements for transporting Odinga’s body to his ancestral home in Bondo, which is located 40 kilometers west of Kisumu, where the most recent disruptions had occurred, were in progress, Siaya County Governor James Orengo urged restraint.

Orengo told local media, “I really ask that the public and the community as a whole keep the peace during this time.”

At least three people were killed at a Nairobi stadium when security forces shot tear gas and weapons at crowds heading towards the pavilion where Odinga’s coffin had been placed on Thursday, causing at least three to die.

A day later, panic set in as mourners departed from Friday’s state funeral service in a different capital location, causing a crowd-crush that claimed the lives of two more victims and treated 163 patients.

Since Odinga’s body returned home on Thursday, a sizable turnout has persisted throughout the duration of the mourning process, with supporters escorting his remains nearly 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Nairobi’s airport.

Tens of thousands of people gathered for the state ceremony on Friday to honor the reverend known as “Baba,” the Swahili word for father, who sang, danced, and waved handkerchiefs.

Odinga’s relatives pleaded for peaceful conduct at the service, which included Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and President William Ruto.

Raila should not be left to cry when she passes away, his brother Oburu said in a statement to the crowd. When he was still alive, he had enough teargass.

In a post on X, former US President Barack Obama honored Odinga as “a true champion of democracy” who “enhanced decades of struggle and sacrifice for the greater cause of freedom and self-governance in Kenya.”

Obama noted that Odinga “was willing to choose the path of peaceful reconciliation without downplaying his core beliefs.”

Odinga served five unsuccessful presidential campaigns that spanned three decades, but she had a greater impact on Kenya’s democratic development than many others. This has caused a wave of grief both nationally and internationally.