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Raila Amolo Odinga, a veteran Kenyan political leader and one-time prime minister, has long cast himself as an anti-establishment firebrand, despite belonging to one of the country's top political dynasties.

But his decision to strike an alliance with his arch-rival, President Uhuru Kenyatta, and secure the ruling party's backing risks taking the shine off his brand as he vies yet again for the top job in Tuesday's elections.

The Kenyatta and Odinga families have dominated Kenyan politics since the country won independence from Britain in 1963.

Uhuru Kenyatta's father Jomo was the East African nation's first president while his rival Jaramogi Oginga Odinga -- Raila's father -- served as vice president.

Now 77, Raila Odinga's early years in politics saw him spend much of his time in prison or in exile as he fought for democracy during the autocratic rule of president Daniel arap Moi.

A member of the Luo tribe, he entered parliament in 1992 and ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1997, 2007, 2013 and 2017, claiming to have been cheated of victory in the last three elections.

The 2007 polls in particular -- which many independent observers also considered deeply flawed -- cast a long shadow over Kenyan politics, unleashing a wave of ethnic violence that pitted tribal groups against each other and cost more than 1,100 lives.

Few therefore expected Odinga and Kenyatta to shake hands and draw a line under decades of vitriol in March 2018.

Known universally as "the handshake", the pact stunned Odinga's colleagues and supporters, effectively leaving Kenya without an opposition.

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