No fewer than Four people have lost their lives in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after security forces opened fire and teargas canisters on huge crowds converged at a stadium where the body of the opposition leader Raila Odinga was lying in state.
Odinga, an iconic figure in Kenyan politics for decades who was once a political prisoner, bidded unsuccessfully for Kenya’s presidency five times. He however, died on Wednesday at the age of 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment.
With thousands of his supporters hitting the streets from early morning, chaos erupted when a huge crowd breached a gate at Nairobi’s main stadium, thereby prompting soldiers to fire in the air, The Legal Observer understands, relying on the testimony of a Reuters witness.
A police source told Reuters that two people were shot dead at the stadium. KTN News and Citizen TV later said the death toll had increased to four, with scores injured. After security forces fired shots, police used teargas to disperse thousands of mourners, the two broadcasters reported, leaving the stadium deserted.
Earlier in the day, thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi’s international airport, interrupting a ceremony for the president, William Ruto, and other officials to receive Odinga’s body with military honours. The incident prompted a two-hour suspension of airport operations.
Crowds also flooded nearby roads and tried to breach parliament, where the government had originally scheduled the public viewing.
Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga became prime minister in 2008 and also struck a political pact with Ruto last year in a career marked by shifting alliances.
He commanded passionate devotion among supporters, especially in his Luo community based in western Kenya, many of whom believe he was denied the presidency by electoral fraud.
Many of Odinga’s mourners, who were not yet born in 1991 when Kenya became a multi-party democracy, paid tribute to Odinga’s efforts as an activist.
Felix Ambani Uneck, a university student, said at the stadium: “He fought tirelessly for multi-party democracy, and we are enjoying those freedoms today because of his struggle.”
