19/10/2025
๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ: ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐, ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ง-๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐
๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐.
Today, in his ancestral home of Bondo, the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga is laid to his grave in the very soil where he was born. Indeed, Africa has lost one of its towering statesmen. The passing of the Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga is felt deeply across the continent, but for the people of the Republic of Somaliland, it carries a special weight. We mourn not only a national leader of Kenya, but a principled Pan-African voice who stood with us when few others dared to.
Raila Odingaโs support for Somaliland was never transactional. It was anchored in conviction, in his belief that Africa must measure its future not by inherited borders, but by democratic legitimacy, stability, and the expressed will of its people. He looked at Somaliland and saw a society that had built peace, institutions, and accountable governance from the ground up. Where others kept their distance, he extended solidarity.
At a time when Somalilandโs decades-long record of stability was often met with diplomatic hesitation, Raila spoke clearly and courageously. He reminded the continent that Pan-Africanism is not the defence of colonial lines, but the defence of African agency. For him, recognition was not a favour to Somaliland; it was an affirmation of African success and self-determination.
His voice carried moral clarity, the kind that comes from leaders who are not afraid to say what history will one day confirm. In him, Somaliland found not just an ally, but a friend who believed that Africa must be bold enough to solve its own questions and honest enough to acknowledge what works.
As Somaliland pays tribute to him, we do so with deep gratitude. We honour a statesman who walked the difficult road of principle over convenience. His legacy challenges all of us, including the African Union, to carry forward the courage he modelled: to see the realities before us and act on them with fairness and foresight.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, to the people of Kenya, and to all those who were touched by his leadership. The bond he forged with the people of Somaliland will endure, not as sentiment, but as a reminder that moral courage remains the highest form of statesmanship.
May his memory inspire a continent that still needs brave voices like his.
