Arsenal FC Sends Commemorative Gift to Honour Raila Odinga

Arsenal Football Club has sent a commemorative piece of memorabilia to the Nairobi office of the late Raila Amolo Odinga, honouring the Kenyan leader who was a long-time supporter of the North London club.

The tribute is a mounted photograph from Arsenal’s Premier League match against Liverpool FC on 8 January. The display carries the inscription: “Arsenal remembers the Rt Honourable Raila Amollo Odinga.” The match ended in a 0–0 draw, the first league stalemate between the two sides since 2015.

Philip Etale, Director of Communication for the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), received the parcel on behalf of Odinga. Etale, who is also an Arsenal supporter, said he would deliver the memorabilia to Odinga’s widow, Ida Odinga.

She serves as Kenya’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme. Etale added that the package appeared to have been sent earlier in the year but was delayed in transit.

Odinga was widely known for his interest in football. He often wore Arsenal colours at public and private events and travelled to London to watch matches at the Emirates Stadium, sometimes accompanied by his children Winnie and Raila Junior.

His involvement in the sport das back to the 1960s, when he played for Luo Union, later renamed Re-Union FC. While studying in Germany, Odinga also followed clubs such as Hannover 96 and FC Bayern Munich. At different times he also expressed admiration for Manchester United FC and Liverpool.

Separately, the Kenyan government said condolence messages received after Odinga’s death will be preserved permanently in national institutions. The tributes, submitted by governments, organisations and individuals from around the world, will be kept at the Kenya National Archives, the Kenya National Library Service, the Foreign Affairs Library and the Foreign Affairs Gallery at Uhuru Gardens. 

The government said the collection will allow future generations to access the messages of tribute and remembrance.