When Odinga's name is mentioned what gets into your mind ... opposition of course.
A man fighting, fighting for something, always agitating for change; whether that is a good or a bad thing.
Anyway, Raila Odinga's identity lies in his ability to command masses aligned to a specific political ideology.
But to understand Raila, we must start right from the very beginning, back in 1947, his father Jaramogi joined politics and worked closely with Jomo Kenyatta.
When Kenyatta became president in 1964, Oginga was the Vice President but it didn't take long before Oginga criticized Kenyatta's government and was detained in 1969 for 15 months.
He later joined a number of politicians and formed FORD in his bid to get to top leadership, unfortunately Jaramogi died before ascending to the presidency.
Now to Raila, 1982 is known by all and sundry as the year Raila is accused of planning to overthrow the government. That did not succeed and resulted in his detention (like his father).
He later fell out with retired President Daniel Moi just like his father and Kenyatta.
In 2002 he said Kibaki Tosha but changed his mind within the first term of Kibaki's regime and challenged him in 2007 in an ODM party. The election was disputed and he became the prime minister.
Right now, Raila together Moses Wetangula and Kalonzo Musyoka are fighting for the ouster of IEBC, which Raila says is biased.
So would we be right to say the Odingas are perpetual opposition leaders, history informs the future... right? Maybe, or maybe not!