Arsenal fans from across Kenya converged on Sunday for a poignant Raila Odinga Arsenal tribute at the former prime minister’s gravesite in Bondo, Siaya County, blending the club’s red-and-white fervour with the nation’s quiet grief just 11 days after his sudden passing.
Under the acacia-dotted skies of Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, over 200 supporters – some trekking from as far as Mombasa and Eldoret – gathered in jerseys emblazoned with the Gunners’ crest, their voices rising in a chorus of “North London Forever” that echoed off Lake Victoria’s shores.
Raila Odinga, the lifelong Arsenal devotee who succumbed to cardiac arrest in an Indian hospital on October 15, 2025, at age 80, was remembered not just as a political titan but as “Baba Gunner,” a paid-up club member whose matchday rituals were as legendary as his hustle for democracy.
The scene unfolded like a halftime huddle turned memorial, with wreaths of white lilies intertwined with Arsenal scarves laid gently at the marble headstone, still fresh from last week’s state funeral.
Organiser Juma Ochieng, a 45-year-old mechanic from Kisumu clad in a faded 2004 Invincibles kit, wiped sweat from his brow as he recounted Raila’s unshakeable loyalty.
“He’d call me at 4 a.m. during Champions League nights, yelling about Wenger’s tactics like we were plotting a referendum,” Ochieng shared, his laugh cracking with emotion.
Chants morphed into stories: one elder from Homa Bay recalled Raila smuggling bootleg VHS tapes of Highbury heroics during his 1980s detention; a young fan from Nairobi, barely 20, confessed binge-watching Odinga’s post-match analyses on YouTube, where the ODM founder dissected defeats with the same fire he brought to anti-corruption crusades.
This Raila Odinga Arsenal tribute transcended fandom, weaving football’s tribal bonds into Kenya’s tapestry of mourning. Odinga, whose love for the Gunners was no secret – he once quipped in a 2017 BBC interview that Arsenal’s “beautiful game” mirrored his vision for a fair Kenya – had long used the pitch as a metaphor for unity.
His 2018 handshake with Uhuru Kenyatta, much like a dramatic Arsenal comeback, quelled post-election flames, and supporters here saw parallels: “Raila taught us to fight clean, win or lose,” said Amina Hassan, a hijab-wearing devotee from Garissa who drove 600 kilometres overnight.
The event, coordinated via WhatsApp groups buzzing since his death, drew nods from ODM elders, who slipped in quietly to bless the bouquet pile, murmuring Luo proverbs about legacies that outlast boots on the ball.
Beyond the wreaths, the gathering sparked reflections on Odinga’s broader imprint. In a nation where football divides as much as it unites – think Manchester United vs. Arsenal pub brawls in Eastlands – this Bondo vigil highlighted his bridge-building beyond politics.
Arsenal’s global Kenyan fanbase, numbering tens of thousands per club stats, mourned a patron whose 2023 Nairobi jersey launch raised Sh10 million for youth academies.
As dusk painted the horizon crimson, the crowd dispersed with a final “Sweet Caroline”, arms linked across ethnic lines – a fitting coda to a man who turned stadium roars into rallying cries.
In Siaya’s humid embrace, this Raila Odinga Arsenal tribute wasn’t mere nostalgia; it was a vow. Fans vowed to stream matches in his honour, donate to heart health drives echoing his final fight, and carry forward the grit that saw Arsenal through lean years – just as Odinga weathered exiles and ballots.
For Kenya’s Gooners, the grave became hallowed ground, where politics paused and passion prevailed. As one parting voice put it, “Baba’s in the stands now, urging us on – red and white forever.”