Willis Otieno demands renaming of an airport after Raila
By Mustafa Juma, January 8, 2026Lawyer-cum-politician Willis Otieno has demanded the renaming of an airport in the country after the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Taking to his official X account on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, as the nation marked what would have been Raila’s 81st birthday, the Safina Deputy Party Leader insisted that renaming an airport after the late ODM leader will be the greatest honour Kenyans can give him.
Otieno suggested RAO International Airport as the name that should be given to one of the country’s busiest facilities.
“I still insist the Greatest Honour the people of Kenya can give Raila Odinga is to name an airport after him. KIA to RAO International Airport. Happy heavenly birthday Okewa,” Otieno wrote on X.
Talanta Stadium
His demand comes weeks after President William Ruto accepted requests to rename the Talanta Sports City Stadium, which is still under construction, to Raila Amollo Odinga International Stadium.
Ruto, on December 12, 2025, during the 62nd Jamhuri Day celebrations at Nyayo National Stadium, announced that the new Talanta Stadium in Nairobi will, upon completion, be renamed the Raila Amolo Odinga International Stadium.
“Nimewasikiliza nyinyi mkitaka hiyo uwanja iitwe Raila Amolo Odinga International Stadium. Tukimaliza, tutafanya hivyo,” Ruto said.
Sakaja’s request
The decision came immediately after Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja publicly requested the honour, saying the facility would be ready to host the next Jamhuri Day and that it was fitting to name it after the man who had just left us.
Raila passed away on 15 October 2025, while receiving treatment in India. The news of his death stopped the country in its tracks. Roads in Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa and even Eldoret were filled with mourners. Flags flew at half-mast for days. Parliament held a special sitting. The outpouring crossed party, tribal and generational lines in a way Kenya had rarely seen.
The Talanta Hela Stadium itself is a 60,000-seat modern arena along Ngong Road whose construction began under President Ruto’s administration as the flagship project of the Talanta Hela initiative, a programme designed to discover, nurture and monetise sporting talent among Kenyan youth.