Raila Family Announces Separate Candle-Lighting Ceremony
The family-led event will take place separately from a nationwide candle-lighting exercise planned by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party on Friday.
Members of the Raila Odinga Memorial Steering Committee, led by chairperson Adams Oloo, address a press conference on Thursday . Photo: ENOS TECHE.
By Robert Mutasi
The family of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has announced a separate candle-lighting ceremony to mark one year since his death.
The ceremony will be held next Thursday at Kang’o ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County, where Raila was buried alongside his father, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Raila’s widow, Ida Odinga, will lead the ceremony, which is scheduled to begin at 6pm East Africa Time.The announcement was made by the Raila Amolo Odinga Memorial National Steering Committee, chaired by Prof Adams Oloo.
“The official international candle lighting will be led by H.E Mama Ida Odinga from 6pm East Africa time at his resting place, Kang’o ka Jaramogi, in Bondo,” the committee said.
The committee invited Kenyans and people around the world to participate in the ceremony from wherever they are.It urged those unable to travel to Bondo to light candles at home, places of worship or other locations at the same time as the family ceremony.
The family-led event will take place separately from a nationwide candle-lighting exercise planned by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party on Friday.
The committee said it supported the ODM initiative, noting that Raila founded and led the party for about two decades.“We welcome this kind gesture of remembrance and the committee gives its blessings to the planned event,” Oloo said.
ODM has designated October as “Mwezi wa Baba” and organised a series of activities to commemorate Raila’s first anniversary.The programme will begin on Friday with candle-lighting events in different parts of the country.
In Nairobi, supporters are expected to gather at Uhuru Park, while events will also be held at Treasury Square in Mombasa and Kisumu Central Square.
The party will hold a major memorial rally in Kakamega on October 9, bringing together supporters from Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties.
Family-led activities will run from October 10 to 15 before the Bondo memorial ceremony.ODM will then resume its programme with activities in Garissa on October 17, followed by events in the Coast region on October 18 and 19.
The party will move to Kajiado on October 21 and Turkana between October 23 and 25.The steering committee has also cautioned against fundraising during the month-long remembrance activities.Oloo said no funds should be collected in the name of the Odinga family or the National Steering Committee.
The committee said the warning was intended to prevent individuals from exploiting the remembrance period for personal financial gain.Raila died on October 15, 2025, while receiving treatment in India. He was 80.
His death triggered widespread mourning across Kenya, with thousands of people attending ceremonies held in his honour.
The family has said the anniversary programme will give Kenyans who did not get an opportunity to properly mourn or bid farewell to Raila another opportunity to remember him.
Raila served as Kenya’s Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 and remained a major figure in the country’s opposition politics for decades.
About Author
