Raila Odinga died on his feet: And that is his enduring legacy

ODM leader Raila Odinga addresses mourners at Langi village in Ndhiwa, Homabay county on October 19, 2018. [File, Standard]

Raila Amolo Odinga died just as he lived—on his feet.
There is no other way to frame the departure of an enigma, no other phrase that so perfectly captures the essence of a man who was, for half a century, the nation’s political center of gravity. He served as the pivot around which the country’s political mood fluctuated.

He owned his space and controlled it. He charted his own path and, with a stubborn conviction that infuriated his foes and inspired his followers, he followed it to the very end. He dictated the terms of his life and, it seems, the terms of his death. Raila never shied away from swimming against the current. He believed in his ideas to death, literally.