Siaya Senator James Orengo, who many refer to as a walking constitution, is one of the most respected lawyers in the country.
Here are some of the facts you probably did not know about the Senior Council.Back in Alliance High School, Orengo was known to be a troublemaker and was even put on the principal’s watch list.He was once suspended for two weeks over disciplinary issues.In an interview with the Nation last year, Orengo recalled how he gave prefects a hard time citing incidences where he would refuse to wake up claiming that he was sick.He, however, declined to go to hospital arguing that a rest would do as he was suffering from mental exhaustion.Orengo was suspended from the University of Nairobi and later joined the University of Dar es Salaam where he completed his law degree.He occasionally joins university students in protests as a way of remembering his days as a student leader.He was exiled in Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe in the early 1980s to escape the dictatorial KANU regime but was later repatriated alongside Kenya Air Force soldiers who had attempted a coup to oust former President Daniel Moi in 1982.The newly elected Senate Minority leader also spent some time at Kamiti and Naivasha maximum prisons and at one point shared a cell with Hezekiah Ochuka, the leader of the soldiers who attempted to overthrow the Nyayo regime.He was first elected to Parliament at 29 years in 1980 when he clinched the Ugenya seat, becoming the youngest MP then. Orengo retained his Siaya senator post in the August 8 election without campaigning, owing to his close ties and loyalty to opposition chief Raila Odinga.He is a football fan who plays the game to keep fit. He supports Arsenal and Real Madrid.
In 2015, he travelled to Spain to watch a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.