Grief, glory, chaos in the people's president's final homecoming

Mourners breach security after the plane ferrying the remains of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga landed at JKIA, Nairobi, on October 16, 2025. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

No one was prepared for this. The death of former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga caught everyone by surprise. And his wish for 72-hour burial plans threw even the best laid strategies by top State and security organs into disarray. 

When the Kenya Airways plane carrying his remains touched down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, the official script was quickly torn up. Raila was coming home, one last time.