Raila Odinga
Encyclopedia
Raila Amollo Odinga also popularly known to 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...

ns as Agwambo, is a 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...

n politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya
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...

 in a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata
Langata Constituency
Lang'ata Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies of Nairobi Province. It consists of southern and southwestern areas of Nairobi. Langata constituency has common boundaries with Kibera Division of Nairobi. The entire constituency is located within...

 since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads, Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005. He was the main opposition candidate in the disputed 2007 presidential election
Kenyan presidential election, 2007
A presidential election was held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27, 2007; parliamentary elections were held on the same date. Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner and sworn in on December 30, despite opposition leader Raila Odinga's claims of victory...

. Following a post-electoral crisis that resulted in the deaths of 1,500 people and the displacement of 600,000 more, Odinga took office as Prime Minister and served as a supervisor of a national unity coalition government, in April 2008.

Odinga is the son of the first Vice President of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chief, who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader...

; Raila's brother, 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 also currently a Member of Parliament (MP). Raila is commonly known by his first name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

 due to coincidence: he was an MP at the same time as his father between 1992 and 1994, and is currently in the House with Oburu. Raila was a presidential contender in the 1997 elections, coming third after President 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'...

 of KANU and Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...

, the current president of Kenya
Heads of state of Kenya
-Heads of State of Kenya :-Affiliations:*KANU - Kenya African National Union*PNU - Party of National Unity-Latest election:-See also:*List of colonial heads of Kenya*Kenya**Heads of Government of Kenya**Vice-Presidents of Kenya...

 and then a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Kenya)
The Democratic Party is a conservative political party in Kenya.At the last legislative elections, 27 December 2002, the party was a partner in the National Rainbow Coalition, that won 56.1% of the popular vote and 125 out of 210 elected seats. The party itself took 36 of these seats...

. Odinga campaigned to run for president in the December 2007 elections on an Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement
Orange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...

 (ODM) ticket.

On September 1, 2007, Raila Odinga was elected as the presidential candidate of the ODM. He garnered significant support in the 2007 General Election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

, with majority of the votes in Rift Valley
Rift valley
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...

, Western, his native Nyanza, Coast, Nairobi (Capital) and North Eastern provinces. Kibaki led in his native Central province and beat Raila in Eastern province. Out of the 2007 elections, his party, ODM, got 99 out of 210 seats in the parliament, making the ODM the single largest party in parliament.

On December 30, 2007, the chairman of the Kenyan election commission
Electoral Commission of Kenya
Electoral Commission of Kenya refers to the now defunct commission that was disbanded by the 10th Parliament in 2008 and replaced with the Interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya. Samuel Kivuitu the last Chairman of the Commission and the commissioners at the time of disbanding, in...

 controversially declared Raila's opponent, incumbent president Kibaki, the winner of the presidential election by a margin of about 230,000 votes. Raila disputed the results, alleging fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...

 by the election commission but refused to adhere to the constitutional procedure and present an election petition before the courts. Most opinion polls had speculated that Odinga would defeat president Kibaki. Independent international observers have since stated that the poll was marred by irregularities favouring both PNU and ODM, especially at the final vote tallying stages. Many ODM supporters across the country rioted against the announced election results.

Early life

Raila Odinga was born at Maseno Church Missionary Society Hospital, in Maseno
Maseno
Maseno is a town in Kisumu District of Nyanza Province, Kenya. It is located along Kisumu - Busia highway 20 kilometers northwest of Kisumu, the provincial capital. Another road connects Maseno to Vihiga town, located 15 kilometers east of Maseno....

, Kisumu District
Kisumu District
Kisumu District is an administrative district of Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquarters is Kisumu City. It has a population of 504,359 and a land area of 919 km² . The main industries are subsistence agriculture and fishery on Lake Victoria. Kisumu Town is the main commercial...

, 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...

 on January 7, 1945 to Oginga and Mary Juma Odinga. He went to Kisumu Union Primary School, Maranda Primary and High School where he stayed until 1962. He spent the next two years at the Herder Institut, a part of the philological faculty
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

 at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...

 in East Germany. He received a scholarship that in 1965 sent him to the Technical University, Magdeburg (now a part of Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) in the GDR. In 1970, he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

. While studying in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...

 during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, as a Kenyan he was able to visit West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...

 through the Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....

. When visiting West Berlin, he used to buy goods not available in East Berlin and bring them to his friends in East Berlin.

On returning to Kenya in 1970, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi
University of Nairobi
The University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...

. In 1971 he established the Standard Processing Equipment Construction & Erection Ltd (later renamed East African Spectre), a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas cylinders. In 1974, he was appointed group standards manager of the Kenya Bureau of Standards
Kenya Bureau of Standards
The Kenya Bureau of Standards is a government agency responsible for governing and maintaining the standards and practices of metrology in Kenya. It was established by an Act of Parliament of Kenya's National Assembly, The Standard Act, and Chapter 496 of the Laws of Kenya. The Bureau started its...

, in 1978 he was promoted to its Deputy Director, a post he held until his 1982 detention.

Detention

Raila was placed under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...

 for seven months after being suspected of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt
1982 Kenyan coup
The 1982 Kenyan coup d'état attempt was a failed attempt to overthrow President Daniel arap Moi's government. At midnight on Sunday, August 1, 1982, a group of soldiers from the Kenya Air Force took over the radio station Voice of Kenya and announced that they had overthrown the government. The...

 against President 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'...

 in 1982. He was later charged with treason and detained without trial for six years.

A biography released in July 2006 indicated that Raila was far more involved in the attempted coup than he had previously claimed. After its publication, some MPs called for Raila to be arrested and charged, but the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...

 had already passed and, since the information was contained in a biography, Raila could not be said to have openly confessed his involvement. His mother died in 1984, but the prison warders told him about it only two months later.

Released on February 6, 1988, he was rearrested in September, 1988 for his involvement with human rights and pro-democracy activists pressing for multi-party democracy
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...

 in Kenya, which was then a one-party state
Single-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...

. To his political followers, he is also referred as "Agwambo" meaning difficult to predict, or "Jakom" meaning Chairman.

Raila was released on June 12, 1989, only to be incarcerated again on July 5, 1990, together with Kenneth Matiba
Kenneth Matiba
Kenneth Matiba is a Kenyan politician. He was the second-place candidate in the 1992 presidential election.Matiba became a senior civil servant at a young age of 31...

, and former Nairobi Mayor Charles Rubia
Charles Rubia
Charles Wanyoike Rubia was the first African mayor of Nairobi. He later joined Parliament where he rose to the cabinet. In 1990, together with Hon. Kenneth Matiba, Rubia led the calls for multi-party democracy and was subsequently detained by President Daniel arap Moi...

. Raila was released on June 21, 1991, and in October, he fled the country to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 alleging government attempts to assassinate him.

Multi-party politics

At the time of Raila's departure to Norway, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy was a political party and a movement against one-party system in Kenya. However, it split before the 1992 General elections, the first multiparty elections held in Kenya....

 (FORD), a movement formed to agitate for the return of multi-party democracy to Kenya, was newly formed. In February 1992, Raila returned to join FORD, then led by his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chief, who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader...

. He was elected Vice Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the party. In the months running up to the 1992 General Election, FORD split into Ford Kenya
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...

, led by Raila's father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chief, who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader...

, and FORD-Asili
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Asili
The Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Asili is a political party in Kenya. It is commonly known as FORD-Asili. Asili means 'original' in SwahiliFORD-Asili has its origins in the original Forum for the Restoration of Democracy...

 led by Kenneth Matiba
Kenneth Matiba
Kenneth Matiba is a Kenyan politician. He was the second-place candidate in the 1992 presidential election.Matiba became a senior civil servant at a young age of 31...

. Raila became Ford-Kenya's Deputy Director of Elections. Raila won the Langata Constituency
Langata Constituency
Lang'ata Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies of Nairobi Province. It consists of southern and southwestern areas of Nairobi. Langata constituency has common boundaries with Kibera Division of Nairobi. The entire constituency is located within...

 parliamentary seat, previously held by Philip Leakey
Philip Leakey
Philip Leakey was educated at Leighton Park School and is a former member of the Kenyan Parliament. He represented the KANU party led by then president Daniel Arap Moi. He was an MP of Langata Constituency from 1979 and served as a cabinet minister for a short stint...

 of KANU.

When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was a Luo Chief, who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader...

 died in January 1994, and Michael Wamalwa Kijana
Michael Wamalwa Kijana
Michael Wamalwa Kijana was a Kenyan politician and, at the time of his death, Kenya's Vice-President.-Early life:...

 succeeded him as FORD-Kenya chairman, Raila challenged him for the party leadership. The elections were marred by controversy after which Raila resigned from FORD-Kenya to join the National Development Party
National Development Party
National Development Party can refer to:* National Development Party * National Development Party * National Development Party * National Development Party * National Development Party...

 (NDP). In the 1997 General Election, Raila finished third after President Moi, the incumbent, and Democratic Party candidate Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki
Mwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...

. He retained his position as the Langata MP.

After the election, Raila supported the Moi government, and led a merger between his party, NDP, and Moi's KANU
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...

 party. He served in Moi's Cabinet as Energy Minister from June 2001 to 2002, during Moi's final term.

In the subsequent KANU elections held later that year, he was elected the party's secretary general. In 2002, the then President, Daniel Arap Moi, pulled a surprise by endorsing Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and MP for Gatundu South Constituency. He is the Chairman of Kenya African National Union , the former ruling party, which is currently part of the Party of National Unity...

 – a son of Kenya's first president 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....

 to be his successor. Moi publicly asked Raila and others to support Uhuru as well.

Raila and other KANU members, including Kalonzo Musyoka
Kalonzo Musyoka
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Vice President of Kenya. Musyoka served in the government under President Daniel arap Moi and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 until 1998; subsequently, under President Mwai Kibaki, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs...

, George Saitoti
George Saitoti
Prof. George Kinuthia Saitoti is a Kenyan politician and mathematician who was Vice President of Kenya from 1989 to 1997 and again from 1999 to 2002. He has been Minister for Internal Security since 2008 and Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010.-Biography and education:George Saitoti is...

 and Joseph Kamotho, opposed this step arguing that the then 38 year old Uhuru, was politically inexperienced and lacking leadership qualities to lead government. The Rainbow Movement went on to join the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Kenya)
The Liberal Democratic Party was a political party in Kenya.In the general election held on 27 December 2002, the party was a partner in the National Rainbow Coalition, which won 56.1 % of the popular vote and 125 out of 212 elected seats. The party itself took 59 of these seats...

 (LDP), which later teamed up with Mwai Kibaki's National Alliance Party of Kenya
National Alliance Party of Kenya
The National Alliance Party of Kenya is a political party in Kenya. The National Alliance Party of Kenya was formed on July 3, 2000 when people from varying background decided to form an alliance of democratic forces to work for the social, economic and political unity and welfare of Kenyan...

 (NAK), a coalition of several other parties, to form the National Rainbow Coalition
National Rainbow Coalition
The National Rainbow Coalition was a coalition of Kenyan political parties in power from 2002 and 2005 when it fell apart in a controversy between its wings about a constitutional referendum.-Formation:...

 (NARC
Narc
Narc or nark may refer to:* Narc , a narcotics agent or informant** Informant or nark or narc* Narc , a 2002 film* NARC , a 1988 arcade game and a 2005 video game...

) that eventually defeated Moi's protege, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Dissent from within

President Kibaki did not appoint Raila Odinga Prime Minister on assuming office as perceived to have been agreed in the memorandum of understanding (Kenya's current constitution does not recognize a Prime minister); neither did he give LDP half the cabinet positions. He instead sought to shore up support for his NAK faction by appointing MPs from the opposition parties (KANU and FORD people) to the cabinet.

The perceived "betrayal" led to an open rebellion and a split within the cabinet, which culminated in disagreements over a proposed new constitution for the country. The government-backed constitutional committee submitted a draft constitution that was perceived to consolidate powers of the presidency and weaken regional governments as had been provided for under an earlier draft before the 2002 Elections. Raila opposed this, and when the document was put to a referendum
Kenyan constitutional referendum, 2005
The 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum was held on 21 November 2005. The proposed new constitution was voted down by a 58% majority of Kenya's voters...

 on November 21, 2005, the government lost by a 57% to 43% margin. Following this, President Kibaki sacked the entire cabinet on November 23, 2005. When it was formed two weeks later, Raila and the entire LDP group were left out. This led to the formation of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) - an Orange was the symbol for the "no" vote in the constitutional referendum.

In January 2006, Raila Odinga was reported to have told police that he believed his life was in danger, having received assassination threats.

2007 presidential election

On July 12, 2007, Odinga alleged that the government was withholding identity cards
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...

 from voters in places supportive of the opposition and that the intended creation of 30 new constituencies was a means by which the government sought to ensure victory in the December 2007 parliamentary election
Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections in Kenya were held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27, 2007; presidential elections were held on the same date....

.

In August 2007, the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya split in two, with Odinga becoming head of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) while the other faction, the ODM-K, was headed by Kalonzo Musyoka
Kalonzo Musyoka
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Vice President of Kenya. Musyoka served in the government under President Daniel arap Moi and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 until 1998; subsequently, under President Mwai Kibaki, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs...

. On September 1, 2007, the ODM elected Odinga as its presidential candidate in a National Delegates Conference held at the Moi International Sports Centre
Moi International Sports Centre
Moi International Sports Centre is a multi-purpose stadium in Kasarani, outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. The stadium holds 60,000. It was built in 1987 for the All-Africa Games held in Nairobi. It is currently used mostly for football matches, the Kenya national football team plays most of its home...

 in Nairobi. Odinga received 2,656 votes; the only other candidates receiving significant numbers of votes were Musalia Mudavadi
Musalia Mudavadi
Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government.Mudavadi was born in Sabatia, Vihiga District...

 with 391 and William Ruto
William Ruto
William Kipchirchir Samoei arap Ruto is a Kenyan politician who was Minister for Higher Education until 19 October 2010 after being suspended for corruption. He is also one of the two deputy party leaders of the Orange Democratic Movement. He had previously served in the Ministry of Agriculture...

 with 368. Earlier, Najib Balala
Najib Balala
Najib Balala is a Kenyan politician. He is the Tourism Minister and a M.P...

 had withdrawn his candidature and endorsed Raila. The defeated candidates expressed their support for Odinga afterward, and Mudavadi was named as his running mate
Running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...

.

Odinga launched his presidential campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...

 in Uhuru Park
Uhuru Park
Uhuru Park is a recreational park adjacent to the central business district of Nairobi, Kenya. It contains an artificial lake and an assembly ground used for occasional political and religious gatherings...

 in Nairobi on October 6, 2007, which saw a record attendance in this or any other venue in independent Kenya. The police estimated an attendance of close to 50,000.

Following the presidential election
Kenyan presidential election, 2007
A presidential election was held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27, 2007; parliamentary elections were held on the same date. Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner and sworn in on December 30, despite opposition leader Raila Odinga's claims of victory...

 held on December 27, the Electoral Commission in controversial circumstances declared Kibaki the winner on December 30, 2007, placing him ahead of Odinga by about 232,000 votes. Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...

 (Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute
The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute was established at Columbia University in 1995. The research institute's stated mission is to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world's poor...

 at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and Special Advisor to former UN Secretary General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....

) faulted the United States' approach to the post-election crisis and recommended an independent recount of the vote.

Odinga accused Kibaki of fraud, and violence broke out in the country as ODM supporters attempted to make the country ungovernable. Following two months of unrest, a deal between Odinga and Kibaki, which provided for power-sharing and the creation of the post of Prime Minister, was signed in February 2008; it was brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

. Odinga was sworn in as Prime Minister, along with the power-sharing Cabinet, on April 17, 2008. Previously the post of Prime Minister had not existed since 1964, when it was briefly held by 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....

 following independence; Odinga is thus the second person in Kenya's history to hold the position.

Political role

Raila Odinga has progressively transcended beyond his original base support among his native Luo
Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)
The Luo are an ethnic group in Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. They are part of a larger group of ethnolinguistically related Luo peoples who inhabit an area including southern Sudan, northern and eastern Uganda, western Kenya, and northern Tanzania.The Luo are the third largest...

 mainly occupying Kenya's Nyanza province, to wield considerable support in the Coast, Western, North Eastern, Rift Valley and Nairobi provinces. A Gallup/USA poll taken in September 2008 found him to have an 85 percent approval rate.

Further to this, there have been recent calls from the Minister of Justice
Justice Minister
A justice ministry is a ministry or other government agency charged with justice. The ministry is often headed by a minister for justice or secretary of justice or secretary for justice; sometimes the head of a department of justice is entitled attorney general.Specific duties may relate to...

 and Constitutional Affairs, Martha Karua
Martha Karua
Martha Wangari Karua is a Kenyan politician. She is a Member of Parliament for Gichugu Constituency and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya...

, for Raila to answer allegations regarding impropriety in the purchase and subsequent sale of land on the Kisumu Molasses Plant.

Homosexuality

Odinga has called for the arrest of homosexuals
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

. In November 2010 he said "If found the homosexuals should be arrested and taken to relevant authorities". He also stated that homosexuality is unnatural and it is mad for men to fall in love with each other while there are plenty of women available. Odinga retracted his statements days later, saying he only meant that same-sex marriages are illegal in Kenya.

Economics

Due to an economic downturn and extreme drought, Odinga suspended taxes on fuels and certain foods that disproportionately impact the poor.

Personal life

Baptised as an Anglican
Anglican Church of Kenya
The Anglican Church of Kenya is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 30 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Kenya.-Official name:...

 in his youth Odinga later became a Born-Again Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 through an Evangelical church in Nairobi.

Odinga is married to Ida Odinga (born Ida Anyango Oyoo). They live in Karen, Nairobi (but have a second home at Opoda Farm, Bondo District
Bondo 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...

). They have four children—two sons and two daughters: Fidel (born 1973), Rosemary (1977), Raila Jr (1979) and Winnie (1990). Fidel is named after Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

 and Winnie after Winnie Mandela. Winnie is currently studying Communication and International Area Studies as a double major student at Drexel University
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...

 of Philadelphia, PA.

In a January 2008 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 interview, Odinga asserted that he was the first cousin of U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 president Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 through Obama's father. However, Barack Obama's paternal uncle denied any direct relation to Odinga, stating "Odinga's mother came from this area, so it is normal for us to talk about cousins. But he is not a blood relative." Obama's father came from the same Luo
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...

 community as Odinga.

He briefly played soccer for Luo Union (later known as Re-Union) as a midfielder.

Raila Odinga is an industrialist with interests in liquefied gas cylinder manufacturing (the East African Spectre), industrial ethanol production and Petroleum import and distribution.

Mr. Odinga has been appointed by African Union to mediate in Ivory Coast between Outarra and Gbagbo.

Controversy

During his premiership Raila appointed Prof Miguna Miguna as Adviser on coalition affair who he later Suspended (Aug 2011) citing "gross Misconduct". Daily Nation quoted reason for suspension as...
"...is accused of misrepresenting the Office of the Prime Minister, possibly a reference to his having aired strong views which may have embarrassed the PM."

His suspension came at a time when electoral body (IIEC) was in is in uproar and unsettled by anonymously authored complaints which the commissioners characterise as a hate campaign but which raise troubling questions on corruption and nepotism. Later Miguna MIguna after suspension issued a statement that "I was instructed to write my article on the IIEC chairman and the position he had taken with respect to the party's decision to kick out rebellious MPs and Councillors." He later denied According to the Nairobi star

In 2001 December, Raila incited resident of Kibera
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...

 to stop paying rent until the it was reduced by 50%. what followed was clashes between tenant vs Landlord. score were injured and many died

External links



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