Kenya has announced that Friday, October 17, will be a public holiday to mourn the country's former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who died during a medical trip to India on Wednesday.

"It is notified for the general information of the public that in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Public Holidays Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration declares that Friday, the 17th October, 2025, shall be a public holiday in honour of the departed former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga," a gazette notice, whose undersigned is Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, read on Thursday.

Odinga's body was repatriated to Kenya early Thursday, and a public viewing held at a major stadium in the capital Nairobi later that day.

Thousands of mourners received the former prime minister's remains at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), and escorted it by road while chanting dirges during the 32-kilometre procession.

State funeral

Law enforcement officers were compelled to use tear gas to restore order at the Kasarani Stadium, which had been filled to the brim.

Later Thursday, President William Ruto led Kenyans in viewing the body of Odinga, which lay in state at the 60,000-seater stadium.

A state funeral will be held at another major stadium, Nyayo National Stadium, in the capital Nairobi on Friday.

On Saturday, Odinga's remains will then be flown to the Western Kenya county of Kisumu, where public viewing will be held ahead of his burial at his ancestral home in the neighbouring Siaya county.

Lengthy political career

Odinga, 80, died of cardiac arrest during a medical trip to India in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased politician, who served as Kenya's prime minister from 2008 to 2013, was active in politics for around four decades, and commanded millions of followers during his decorated political career.