PRESIDENT William Ruto on Monday dedicated Kenya’s Mashujaa Day celebrations to the late Raila Amolo Odinga, honoring the former Prime Minister as “a towering statesman, a resolute patriot, and a quintessential hero” one day after his state funeral.
Speaking at Ithookwe Stadium in Kitui County during the national Heroes’ Day commemorations, Ruto led the nation in a moment of silence for Odinga, who was buried Sunday following a funeral attended by political leaders from across Kenya and Africa.
“This is the man, the legend, the pan-Africanist, to whom we dedicate this Mashujaa Day,” Ruto said, announcing that he had posthumously conferred upon Odinga the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (C.G.H.), the nation’s highest honor.
In his address, Ruto outlined five key lessons from Odinga’s life, emphasizing the former Prime Minister’s commitment to putting the country above self-interest. He recalled Odinga’s famous declaration that he would shake hands with rivals “whether he won or whether he lost because he loved Kenya more than he loved Raila Amolo Odinga.”
The President revealed that earlier this year, Odinga had addressed a Cabinet retreat where he stressed the importance of national stability, warning that “an imperfect nation striving for perfection is far better than one that is consumed by chaos and anarchy.”
Ruto defended Odinga’s decision to work with his administration to stabilize the country, noting that when the nation faced turbulence last year, “Baba was the first to come to the table to help steady the ship of state,” leading to the formation of the broad-based government.
Vision for Kenya’s Future
Drawing on conversations with Odinga in the final months of his life, Ruto announced an ambitious national development agenda focused on four priorities: food security, industrialization, energy expansion, and infrastructure development.
The President unveiled plans to build 50 mega dams to bring 2 million acres under irrigation within the next decade, aiming to end Kenya’s annual expenditure of over 500 billion shillings on food imports.
On industrialization, Ruto announced plans to expand energy generation capacity from 2,300 megawatts to 10,000 megawatts within ten years, establish Special Economic Zones across the country, and ensure all Kenyan agricultural products are processed domestically.
Infrastructure projects include dualing 1,000 kilometers of major highways, constructing 10,000 kilometers of new tarmac roads, and completing the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Malaba, connecting Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A Nation in Mourning
The President acknowledged that the nation remains in a seven-day mourning period following Odinga’s passing. He noted that Odinga had expressed deep affection for Kenya, once saying that if given a choice in the afterlife, he would ask God to “take me back to Kenya.”
Ruto concluded by challenging Kenyans to honor Odinga’s legacy by embracing the lessons he taught: “If we, the people he so deeply loved and served, choose to live by the lessons he taught us; to love Kenya more than we love ourselves; to put unity above division; to aspire for greater, and to serve with courage and conviction, then we can become a great nation of 50 million heroes.”
The President consulted with Fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta and leaders from across the political spectrum in formulating the new national development agenda, emphasizing that “Kenya’s progress must never be a partisan pursuit; it is a national, inclusive mission.”
