NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Kenyans need not worry about the age of former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga when they head to the voting booth in 2017, a supporter said.
Odinga announced Sunday he would take another run at the presidency in 2017. He will be 72 years old by then.
James Orengo, a regional senator from western Kenya, spoke at a fundraiser in support of the former prime minister.
"Why are they preoccupied with Raila's age now when they are aware of the ages the late [Jomo] Kenyatta and retired Presidents [Daniel] Moi and [Mwai] Kibaki were when they took office?" he was quoted by The Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya as saying.
All three former presidents served into their 70s. Former President Kenyatta was 88 years old when he died in office in 1978.
His son, Uhuru, won the presidential election in Kenya in April. He bested Odinga, whose challenge to election results in 2007 sparked violence that left 1,000 people dead.
Odinga last month said he was frustrated with the way in which an independent electoral commission handled this year's contest, adding he viewed the April contest as skewed in Kenyatta's favor. International observers, however, described this year's election as generally fair.
Odinga's bid in 2017 will be his fourth.
