Raila Amolo Odinga (1945–2025) — An engineer in public life

Last Updated 2 months ago by Kenya Engineer

On 15th of October 2025, Kenya and the continent mourn the passing of Raila Amolo Odinga — a statesman whose life bridged technical training and political leadership, and whose imprint on roads, standards and continental infrastructure debates will be studied by engineers and planners for decades.

From technical training to a life of public works

Raila Odinga’s roots were in mechanical engineering. In the 1960s he received a scholarship to study in East Germany at the technical college in Magdeburg (now part of Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg), completing studies in welding/manufacturing engineering before returning to Kenya in 1970. His engineering training — technical, hands-on and international — informed his early career and his approach to public service.

After returning home he worked in engineering roles and — according to major biographical sources — taught in the University of Nairobi’s Department of Mechanical Engineering until the mid-1970s. That early period, split between industry and instruction, forged the twin themes that would characterise his later public life: an appreciation for technical competence and a commitment to building institutions that deliver.

Standards, industry and an engineer’s approach to governance

Before he entered the highest levels of politics, Odinga worked within standards and industry — including roles at the Kenya Bureau of Standards and his business East African Spectre, which manufactured LPG cylinders — experiences that deepened his understanding of industrial capacity, quality assurance and the practicalities of Kenyan manufacturing. This technical background repeatedly surfaced in his later policy positions and in his insistence that infrastructure must be planned and executed with technical rigour.

Minister for Roads: a technocratic imprint on Kenya’s transport network

Raila Odinga served as Minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing in the early 2000s (2003–2005). It was in that position that he helped steer a generation of major road projects and policy choices that reshaped Kenya’s transport network. Most notably, Odinga is widely credited as a foundational political champion of what became the Thika Superhighway — a transformational, multi-lane corridor that enabled faster movement of people and goods into and out of Nairobi and catalysed economic activity along its route.

During his tenure he also supported and piloted alternative road technologies and materials: the experiment around Mbagathi Way (now commonly called Raila Odinga Way) — built in concrete rather than conventional asphalt — is regularly cited as an early Kenyan example of using concrete paving for longevity in heavily trafficked urban corridors. The Mbagathi/Raila Odinga Way project became a visible example and talking point for engineers and road agencies.

A continental voice for infrastructure

Odinga’s engineering background also framed his work beyond Kenya. In 2018 he was appointed by the African Union as High Representative for Infrastructure Development (a role focused on championing continental infrastructure priorities — transnational corridors, missing links in the Trans-African Highway network, and flagship initiatives under Agenda 2063). In that capacity he worked to place infrastructure higher on political agendas across capitals and regional bodies, arguing that connectivity, quality engineering and coordinated planning are central to Africa’s development.

Champion of engineering’s public story — media, education and public outreach
Raila Odinga understood engineering’s public dimension: infrastructure projects change lives, cities and economies. He repeatedly engaged with institutions of engineering, met with professional bodies, and supported public conversations about engineering and its role in development. One close-to-home example is Kenya Engineer’s own television initiative, The Amazing World of Engineering — a documentary series produced with NTV that sought to showcase engineering in Kenya across water, energy, transport, manufacturing and more.

A practical, engineering-minded legacy

What stands out for engineers who study Raila Odinga’s public life is his insistence that engineering and governance be joined: that materials choices, standards, procurement, maintenance planning and long-term lifecycle thinking matter as much as political will. Whether in the quality assurance work at standards institutions, the push for large arterial corridors, the piloting of durable concrete pavements, or advocating for African infrastructure integration, Odinga blended political agency and an engineer’s concern for durable, measurable outcomes.

For the profession, a call to carry the work forward

Raila Odinga’s death is a reminder that the long arc of nation-building depends on institutions, professionals and political champions working together. For engineers in Kenya, East Africa and Africa at large, his life offers a few clear lessons:
1. Technical competence matters in public office — engineers must be at the table when strategic infrastructure choices are made.
2. Life-cycle thinking and materials choices (concrete vs asphalt, standards and maintenance planning) have real consequences for taxpayers and users; technical debates must be part of policy processes.
3. Public outreach and storytelling about engineering (documentaries, outreach programmes like AWEsome) help recruit and inspire the next generation of engineers.

Raila Amolo Odinga will be remembered by millions for his political campaigns, for his role in Kenya’s democratic evolution, and for his statesmanship; but to the engineering community he leaves a more technical heritage — a life that began with welding and mechanical engineering, ran through lecturing and standards, moved into ministerial stewardship of roads and public works, and extended to continental advocacy for integrated infrastructure. His passing marks the close of a chapter in which one of Kenya’s best-known public figures wore the hat of an engineer-politician — and it leaves us with the responsibility to translate his advocacy into lasting engineering practice: better standards, stronger institutions, and infrastructure built to serve generations.

On behalf of the Kenya Engineer community, we offer deepest condolences to his family, colleagues  and all Kenyans. May the roads he championed continue to carry Kenya forward — and may engineers across the country answer his call by building with rigour, foresight and care.