The Republic of Kenya today dedicated the Raila Odinga Mausoleum at Kang’o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County, marking one year since the former Prime Minister’s passing.

The dedication, dated October 7, 2026, recalls October 15, 2025, when Kenya and Africa lost one of their most distinguished sons.

It describes Raila Amolo Odinga as a patriot, a Pan-Africanist and a statesman who spent decades at the centre of Kenya’s push for freedom, justice and a wider democratic space.

Through detention, sacrifice and hardship, it says, he never yielded.

The text also remembers the private man: his lifelong partnership with his wife, Mama Ida Odinga, his love for his children and extended family, and the home that sustained him through years of public service.

It honours his loyalty to the heritage he was born into and passed on as a national legacy.

The Republic, it says, raised the mausoleum to honour Raila as “the father and guardian of our democracy.”

It asks that the memorial stand for the ideals he gave his all to: democracy, equitable development through devolution, and national unity. It also calls on future generations to remember his sacrifice and guard the democratic inheritance he helped secure.

The mausoleum stands beside that of his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice-President.

Raila was buried there on October 19, 2025.

Construction began with a ceremony on July 20, 2026, and the Kenya Defence Forces led the build.

President William Ruto had directed that it be completed by October 14, a day before the anniversary.

Officials say the wider complex will include exhibition and archival spaces, with support from the National Museums of Kenya.

Raila died on October 15, 2025, aged 80, while receiving treatment in India.

He served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 and remains one of the most influential figures in Kenya’s democratic history.

The dedication says Raila now passes “from the living memory of a generation into the enduring memory of the Republic.” Commemorations for the first anniversary continue on October 15.