Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Encyclopedia
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's first Vice-President
Vice-President of Kenya
The Vice-President of Kenya is the second-highest executive official in the Kenyan government.-List of Vice-Presidents of Kenya:*Jaramogi Oginga Odinga *Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi *Daniel arap Moi...
, and thereafter as opposition leader. Odinga's son Raila Odinga
Raila Odinga
Raila Amollo Odinga , also popularly known to Kenyans as Agwambo, is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads,...
is the current Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Kenya
The Prime Minister of Kenya is a post in the Kenyan government. The first Prime Minister of Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta who became Prime Minister in 1963. In 1964, Kenya became a Republic and the post of Prime Minister was abolished and Jomo Kenyatta assumed the position of President...
, and another son, Oburu Odinga
Oburu Odinga
Oburu Odinga is a Kenyan MP. He is the assistant minister for finance in the 2008 Grand Coalition government.Oburu is from well known Odinga political family, his brother Raila Odinga is the favourite presidential candidate and his late father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga was a prominent politician at...
, is the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Finance.
Early years and career
Oginga Odinga was born in BondoBondo District
Bondo District is an administrative district in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Bondo. The Bondo District has a population of 238,780 . The district is relatively new; it was created in 1998 from southern parts of the Siaya District...
, Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province of Kenya, is one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces. It is located in the southwest part of Kenya around Lake Victoria. Nyanza includes part of the eastern edge of Lake Victoria and is inhabited predominantly by the Luo. There are also Bantu-speaking tribes such as the...
. In his autobiography, Not Yet Uhuru, Odinga estimates the date of his birth to be October, 1911. Christened Obadiah
Obadiah
Obadiah is a Biblical theophorical name, meaning "servant of Yahweh" or "worshipper of Yahweh." It is related to "Abdeel", "servant of God", which is also cognate to the Arabic name "Abdullah". Turkish name Abdil or Abdi. The form of Obadiah's name used in the Septuagint is Obdios; in Latin it is...
Adonijah
Adonijah
Adonijah was the fourth son of King David according to the book of Samuel , which is contained in the Bible.-Life:After the death of his elder brothers Amnon and Absalom, he became heir-apparent to the throne, but Solomon, a younger brother, was preferred to him. Adonijah, however, when his father...
, he later renounced his Christian names and became known as Oginga Odinga. He was a student of Maseno School
Maseno School
Maseno School is one of the oldest schools in Kenya. It was established in 1906 by the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society as a school for the children of African chiefs. The first administrator of the school was Rev...
and Alliance High School. He went to Makerere University
Makerere University
Makerere University , Uganda's largest and second-oldest higher institution of learning, , was first established as a technical school in 1922. In 1963 it became the University of East Africa, offering courses leading to general degrees from the University of London...
in 1940, and returned to Maseno High School as a teacher. In 1948 he joined the political party Kenya African Union
Kenya African Union
Kenya African Union was a political organization formed in 1944to articulate Kenyan grievances against the British colonial administration of the time...
(KAU).
Spurred to empower his Kenyan Luo ethnic group, Odinga started the Luo Thrift and Trading Corporation (registered in 1947). With time, Odinga and his group undertook to strengthen the union between Luo people
Luo
Luo may refer to:*Luo , a group of related African ethnic groups.*Luo , a people of Kenya and Tanzania, part of the above named group...
in the whole of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. His efforts earned him admiration and recognition among the Luo, who revered him as Ker (spiritual leader) – a position previously held by the fabled ancestral Luo chief, Ramogi Ajwang, who reigned 400 years before him. Vowing to uphold the ideals of Ramogi Ajwang, Odinga became known as Jaramogi (man of the Ramogi people).
Vice presidency
According to Luo tradition, a Ker could not be a politician, so Odinga relinquished his position as Ker in 1957 and became the political spokesman of the Luo. The same year he was elected member of the Legislative Council for the Central Nyanza constituency, and in 1948 he joined the Kenya African Union (KAU). In 1960, together with Tom MboyaTom Mboya
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya was a prominent Kenyan politician during Jomo Kenyatta's government. He was founder of the Nairobi People's Congress Party, a key figure in the formation of the Kenya African National Union , and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development at the time of his death...
he joined Kenya African National Union
Kenya African National Union
The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
(KANU). When Kenya became an independent Republic in 1964, he was its first Vice-President
Vice-President of Kenya
The Vice-President of Kenya is the second-highest executive official in the Kenyan government.-List of Vice-Presidents of Kenya:*Jaramogi Oginga Odinga *Joseph Zuzarte Murumbi *Daniel arap Moi...
.
As Vice-President he did not agree with Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyattapron.] served as the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation....
's government, and he resigned his post and quit KANU in 1966 to form the Kenya People's Union
Kenya People's Union
Kenya People's Union was a socialist political party in Kenya led by Oginga Odinga. The party was banned in 1969.- History :In March 1966 a left-wing faction of the governing Kenya African National Union left the party and formed the KPU...
(KPU).
In opposition
The friction between Odinga and Kenyatta continued, and in 1969 Odinga was arrested after the two verbally abused each other publicly at a chaotic function in KisumuKisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
– and where at least 11 people were killed and dozens were injured in riots. He was detained for two years, and was consigned to political limbo until after Kenyatta's death in August 1978.
Kenyatta's successor, Daniel arap Moi
Daniel arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...
, appointed Odinga as chairman of the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board. He did not last long in the post, presumably because he was still outspoken against Kenyatta's policies. Odinga attempted to register a political party in 1982, but when Attorney-General Charles Njonjo
Charles Njonjo
Charles Mugane Njonjo is a former Kenyan Attorney General , and Minister for Constitutional Affairs .- Biography :...
amended the constitution (which made Kenya a de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
single-party state), his plans were foiled.
Following the failed coup of 1982 against Moi's government, Odinga was placed under house arrest in Kisumu. In 1990, he tried in vain with others to register an opposition party, the National Democratic Party. In 1991 he co-founded and became the interim chairman of Forum for the Restoration of Democracy
Ford-Kenya political party
FORD–Kenya is a Kenyan political party and was part of the ruling NARC coalition that ended forty years of KANU rule in Kenya...
(FORD). The formation of FORD triggered a chain of events that were to change Kenya's political landscape, culminating in ending KANU's 40 years in power – eight years after Odinga's death.
FORD split before the 1992 elections
Kenyan general election, 1992
General elections were held in Kenya on 29 December 1992. Although they were the first multi-party elections since independence, the results were marred by allegations of ballot-box stuffing, and targeted ethnic violence in the Rift Valley Province...
. Odinga himself vied for presidency on Ford-Kenya ticket, but finished fourth with a share of 17.5% votes. However, he regained the Bondo Constituency
Bondo Constituency
Bondo Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of two constituencies in Bondo District.- Members of Parliament :- Wards :...
seat after being forced out of parliamentary politics for over two decades. Odinga died in 1994.