Raila awarded Kenya’s highest civilian honour posthumously
The conferment comes a day after the former Raila was laid to rest at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County.
President William Ruto has posthumously conferred the country’s highest civilian honour, the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (CGH), on the late former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga in recognition of his lifelong service to the nation.
The conferment comes a day after the former Raila was laid to rest at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi in Bondo, Siaya County.
In a proclamation read during Mashujaa Day celebrations today at Ithookwe Stadium in Kitui county, President Ruto said the award symbolised the country’s gratitude for Raila’s decades-long fight for democracy, justice and equitable development.
“The Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga dedicated the entirety of his adult life to the pursuit of justice, freedom and the equitable development of Kenya and advancement of her people,” read part of the proclamation in a special gazette notice dated October 20, 2025.
“On behalf of a grateful nation, and through the authority vested in me as President, I have today posthumously conferred upon the Right Honourable Raila Amolo Odinga the highest honour of the Republic, the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (C.G.H.).”
“But 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,” said the President.
Raila died on October 15, 2025, while receiving treatment at Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, India.
The remains of the former Prime Minister were flown to Kenya on Thursday, October 16, and he was accorded a state funeral.
