Raila Odinga
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Raila Amollo Odinga (1945-) is a Kenyan Member of Parliament, and was, until November 23, 2005 a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing. He is the son of the first Vice President of Kenya Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. His brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently an MP.
Raila is commonly known by his first name due to coincidence: he was MP at the same time with his father between 1992-97, and is currently in the House with Oburu. Raila was a presidential contender in the 1997 elections, coming third after President Daniel Arap Moi of KANU and Mwai Kibaki then of the Democratic Party. He is currently campaigning to run for president in the December 2007 elections on an Orange Democratic Party of Kenya (ODM-K) ticket, which is also being sought by five other politicians.
Raila is presently at the centre of a leadership crisis in the ODM-K following a recent tour of London that was earlier planned for the party's presidential contenders, but which only he attended finally. The issue concerns whether Raila had planned to use the trip, organised by the ODM-K UK Chapter, to get a headstart from the rest, as was claimed by his colleagues who cancelled their journeys when they were just about to depart. Although Raila maintains he never had personal arrangements to shine at the meeting, many in the organising committee have hinted they would support a Raila candidature in the ODM-K.
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[edit] Early life
Raila Odinga, of the Luo tribe, was born in Maseno, Kisumu District, Nyanza Province on 7 January 1945. He received a scholarship that in 1965 sent him to the Technical University (Otto Von Guericke), Magdeburg in what was then known as East Germany. In 1970, he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
On returning to Kenya, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. He eventually left the university to join parliament. In 1975, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Kenya Bureau of Standards, a post he held until his 1982 detention.
[edit] Detention
Raila was placed under house arrest for seven months after being suspected collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt who sought to oust President Daniel Arap Moi in 1982. Raila was charged with treason and was detained without trial for six years [1].
A biography released in July 2006 suggested that Raila was more involved in the coup than previously thought. After its publication, some MPs called for Raila to be arrested and charged [2], but the statute of limitations had already passed and, since the information was contained in a biography, Raila could not be said to have openly confessed his involvement. [3].
Released on February 6 1988, he was arrested again in September, 1988 for his involvement with the Kenya Revolutionary Movement (KRM) [4], an underground organization pressing for multi-party democracy in Kenya, which was then a one-party state.
Raila was released on June 12 1989, only to be incarcerated again on July 5 1990, together with Kenneth Matiba, and former Nairobi Mayor Charles Rubia [5]. Raila was released on June 21 1991 , and in October, fled the country to Norway alleging government attempts to assassinate him [6].
[edit] Multi-Party Politics
At the time of Raila's departure for Norway, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (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. He was elected Vice Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the party. In the months running up to the 1992 General Elections, FORD split into Ford Kenya, led by Raila's father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and FORD-Asili led by Kenneth Matiba. Raila became Ford-Kenya's Deputy Director of Elections.
When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died in January 1994, and Michael Wamalwa Kijana succeeded him as FORD-Kenya chairman, Raila challenged him for the party leadership. He lost, and left FORD-Kenya to join the National Development Party (NDP). In the 1997 General Elections, Raila finished third after President Moi, the incumbent, and Democratic Party candidate Kibaki.
After the elections, Raila supported the Moi government, and led a merger between his party, NDP, and Moi's KANU party. He served in Moi's Cabinet as Energy Minister during Moi's final term.
In the subsequent Kanu elections held later that year, he was elected the party's secretary general. Since Moi, the president and KANU party chairman, was constitutionally barred from running for a third-term, Raila was thought to be maneuvering for the KANU presidential ticket. In 2002, however, Moi passed over Raila and openly supported Uhuru Kenyatta – a son of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta. Moi publicly asked Raila and others to support Uhuru as well [7].
Raila and other KANU members, including Kalonzo Musyoka, George Saitoti and Joseph Kamotho, opposed this step and formed the Rainbow Movement to protest Moi's decision. The Rainbow Movement went on to join the little known Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which later teamed up with the National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK), a coalition of several other parties, to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
LDP signed a memorandum of understanding with NAK, which provided for a prime ministerial position for the LDP, as well as a 50-50 split of cabinet seats between the LDP and the NAK after the elections.
[edit] Dissent from within
President Kibaki did not appoint Raila Odinga Prime Minister on assuming office as 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 [8].
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 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.
In January 2006, Raila Odinga was reported to have told police that he believed his life was in danger, having received assassination threats [9].
[edit] Political role
At his website, Raila lists himself as a social democrat [10], thus making distance from his father, who was openly socialist. However, political tendencies are often overshadowed by personal connections and tribalism in current Kenyan politics.
Raila Odinga gets noticeable support from all over the country, especially among third largest ethnic base in Kenya, the Luo. He is seen as an effect mobilizer of grassroots support.
Further to this, there have been recent calls from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Martha Karua for Raila to answer allegations regarding impropriety in the purchase and subsequent sale of land on the Kisumu Molasses Plant.[11]
[edit] Personal life
Raila Odinga is married to Ida Odinga (born Ida Anyango Oyoo). They have four children - two sons and two daughters. He lives in Nairobi but has a second home in Bondo District.
