16/10/2025
🇰🇪 Remembering Raila Odinga (1945–2025)
I’ve just learned that Raila Odinga passed away yesterday, and suddenly I felt a wave of nostalgia. With him is connected a strong memory: a special reportage I realized in 2013 as an independent photographer during the Kenyan general elections.
I still remember photographing him as he cast his vote at the Old Kibera Primary School in Nairobi. The city was tense yet full of hope. People queued from before dawn, determined to make their voices heard. Inside the slums, the chant “No Raila, No Peace” echoed through the narrow alleys. The elections were won by Uhuru Kenyatta, but Raila led a great and passionate campaign that deeply mobilized people all across the country
That experience marked me deeply. It connected me forever to Kenya its struggles, its strength, its unbreakable spirit. My bond with Africa, and with Kenya in particular, began back in 1999, when I first started working on the continent. Over the years I’ve returned often, covering stories for Amnesty International and many small NGOs each time discovering new layers of humanity.
Today, as Kenya mourns, I remember that day, that photograph, and the man who embodied the hope of millions.
