Dozens injured at state funeral for Kenya opposition leader Odinga

AFP | Nairobi

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Dozens were injured, many seriously, at the state funeral of Kenya’s revered opposition leader Raila Odinga yesterday as crowds rushed to see his coffin, journalists saw.

It came a day after at least three people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse a crowd that had gathered to see Odinga’s body in a separate ceremony.

The 80-year-old died from a suspected heart attack at a health clinic in southern India on Wednesday, triggering a huge outpouring of grief for a man known affectionately as “Baba” (father) by many Kenyans.

“He walked among us as a man but also charged among us as a movement for change, a movement for justice... for a better and greater Kenya,” President William Ruto told the crowd gathered at Nairobi’s Nyayo stadium for the funeral yesterday.

Moments later, a surge of mourners trying to reach the coffin on the pitch left dozens injured.

Journalists saw many had collapsed, some had broken bones or difficulty breathing after being crushed, with at least five ambulances on the pitch to help those hurt.

‘The father’

Arguably the most important political figure of his generation in Kenya, Odinga served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 but never succeeded in winning the presidency despite five attempts.

But he outlasted many rivals and is credited as a major player in returning Kenya to multi-party democracy in the 1990s and overseeing the widely praised constitution of 2010.

“I have freedom of speech because of Raila... I’m here because he is the father,” said Paul Oloo, a supporter at the funeral.