India, Oct. 15 -- Kenya's longtime opposition leader and former prime minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80 while on a health visit to India, local police said Wednesday. His death was confirmed by the Devamatha Hospital in Kerala, where he was taken after he collapsed during a walk.

Odinga's death has shocked many in the East African nation's political landscape.

A towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran for president five times, in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2022, but never won, despite coming agonisingly close on several occasions.

Odinga's 2007 loss to then-president Mwai Kibaki, in an election marred by allegations of fraud and ethnic violence that killed over 1,100 people, marked one of the most turbulent chapte...