Hundreds of mourners in Siaya County on Sunday forced their way into
Kang’o ka Jaramogi, the ancestral home of the Odinga family, breaching tight
security to access the burial site of former Prime Minister Raila Amollo
Odinga.
The emotional crowd, carrying twigs and chanting Raila’s name, surged
past police and military officers moments after the casket had been lowered
into the grave.
The mourners wailed uncontrollably as they made their way to the
graveside, where final preparations were underway to seal the burial site.
Security officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National
Police Service, and county enforcement units had formed multiple rings of
security around the family home to control access to the area.
However, the sheer number of mourners who had gathered outside the gates
overwhelmed the officers, leading to a brief moment of confusion.
The crowd began pushing forward after the final prayer and committal rites were completed.
President William Ruto had left the burial site, but former President Uhuru Kenyatta and family members were still present.
Despite officers’ repeated appeals for calm, mourners insisted on getting
closer to the grave to pay their final respects.
As they surrounded the grave, mourners sang traditional Luo dirges and
liberation songs associated with Raila’s long political journey.
Others knelt, clutching handfuls of soil from the site, while some held
portraits and flags bearing Raila’s image.
Raila’s burial, held at his father’s homestead where Kenya’s first Vice
President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was also laid to rest, drew thousands of
mourners from across the country.
The day was marked by emotion,
music, and a mix of grief and celebration as Kenyans paid their last respects
to a man many called Baba.
Earlier, the opposition leader had been honoured with a 17-gun salute and
the ceremonial Last Post performed by the KDF, symbols of the nation’s
gratitude and respect for his decades of service to democracy and national
unity.
A gun salute is one of the oldest and most solemn military
honours in the world. It involves firing a sequence of artillery rounds to show
respect to a person of national importance. T
The number of shots fired depends on the individual’s rank
or position in state protocol.
In Kenya, as in most Commonwealth countries, a 21-gun salute
is reserved for a sitting President or Head of State, while a former President
receives 19 rounds.
A 17-gun salute, such as the one accorded to Raila, is
reserved for figures of national stature — former Prime Ministers, Chiefs of
Defence, or statesmen whose influence and service shaped the nation.
