Body-viewing chaos among major reasons why Kenyans unhappy with govt’s handling of Raila’s death – TIFA
By Cy Muganda, December 23, 2025A new opinion poll has revealed that chaos, violence, and access restrictions during the body-viewing of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga were among the top reasons cited by Kenyans dissatisfied with the government’s handling of his death and burial.
According to the TIFA report released on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, while an overwhelming majority of Kenyans (89%) expressed satisfaction with the government’s response to Raila’s passing, the minority who were critical pointed to specific failings in the arrangements.
Key reasons for dissatisfaction
Among the 11% of Kenyans who said they were “not satisfied,” 23% cited body-viewing chaos, violence, and access restrictions as the main cause of their discontent.
Another 22% complained about perceived insincerity by senior officials, particularly when compared to the political and electoral abuses Raila had suffered during his lifetime.
“Among the minority (11%) who say they were ‘not satisfied’ with the Government’s response to Raila’s passing (including body-viewing and funeral arrangements), most cited the violence and/or restrictions surrounding viewing of the body (23%) and a perceived insincerity by senior officials in contrast to how he had been treated in life (22%),” the TIFA report stated.
Other concerns raised
The survey also revealed that 11% of those dissatisfied complained about insufficient transparency regarding several aspects of Raila’s passing, while another 11% felt the mourning and burial period was too brief.
Another 11% criticized what they perceived as unnecessary or excessive public expense in the arrangements, while only 3% mentioned the exclusion of opposition leaders from among the speakers at the funeral.
“Criticism, where it exists, centres on crowd management and perceptions of insincerity rather than the decision to honour him,” TIFA noted in its analysis.
Overall positive sentiment
Despite these criticisms from a small minority, the poll found that public sentiment leaned strongly toward approval of the government’s handling of Raila’s passing.
The survey found that 60% of Kenyans were “very satisfied,” while 29% were “somewhat satisfied” with how the government and President William Ruto managed the arrangements.
Regional variations showed that satisfaction levels were highest among residents of Central Rift (78% very satisfied), Western (68%), Northern (65%), and Nairobi (63%).
Even in Raila’s home region of Nyanza, 54% expressed being “very satisfied” with the government’s handling, though this was among the lower satisfaction levels compared to other regions.
“Among all Kenyans and across the country, sentiment is generally positive regarding the Government’s handling of the several matters related to Raila’s passing, with only Coast residents having a plurality holding a less than “very satisfied” opinion on this (“somewhat satisfied”: 49%; “not satisfied”: 11%), though as among residents of South Rift and Mt. Kenya, those from Raila’s home region of Nyanza, only a slim majority accord the state the highest rating here (“very satisfied”: 54%, with 55% and 53% for the other two zones, respectively). Highest levels of such satisfaction are expressed by residents of Central Rift ( 78%), followed by Western, Northern and Nairobi (68%, 65% and 63%, respectively),” TIFA stated.
The poll, conducted between November 10 and 17, 2025, interviewed 2,053 randomly selected Kenyan adults across all 47 counties with a margin of error of ±2.16%.