Raila Odinga, the man known to be the father of democracy in Kenya is one of the renowned leaders in Africa.
Although he was born in a well-off family, he still had to do much to get himself where he is right now.
Currently 73 years of age, Raila was born on the 7th of January 1945 to Oginga Odinga and Mary Ajuma Odinga. His father Oginga became the first Vice President when President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta came to power. He(Oginga) died on 20th January 1994.
Raila studied in various primary schools in the country including Kisumu primary school and Maranda primary school before proceeding to Maranda High School for his secondary education.
After completing his secondary education, he flew to Germany, University of Leipzig and then to Magdeburg University in Germany still where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1970.
Upon returning to Kenya from Germany, Raila embarked on teaching career after which he resolved to join his father in politics. He was a key player in the fight for multi-party democracy in the country.
He also became a lecturer at the University of Nairobi when he returned to Kenya. During this time he established East African Spectre Ltd, a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas. He quitted his job at UoN and became manager at Kenya Bureau of Standards in 1974 and was later promoted to Deputy Director.
In 1982, Raila was arrested by president Moi after he was accused of plotting a coup. He served a 6-year jail term until 1988.
Few months after his release in 1988, Odinga was again rearrested alongside other activists for attempting to implement multi-party democracy. He was released on 12th June 1989. Sad enough he was arrested again a year later and released on the 21st of June 1991.
Following threats of assassination, Raila was forced to flee the country to Norway. He came back from Norway in 1992 and joined Forum for the Restoration of Democracy(FORD).
FORD later split into two; FORD-Kenya led by his father Oginga Odinga and FORD-Asili led by Kenneth Matiba in 1993. Odinga won a parliamentary seat the same year during which he gained his title 'Father of Democracy'.
He raced for presidency in 1997 and became third after Mwai Kibaki in the election that Moi won. |Odinga began to support Moi's government and was appointed Minister for Energy from 2001 to 2002.
He again raced for presidency in 2007 where he lost to Mwai Kibaki and this caused post election violence since he failed to accept Kibaki's victory.
He contested again in 2013 and lost to Uhuru Kenyatta, followed by 2017 where he again lost to Uhuru Kenyatta. He found it hard to accept the loss but later gave in and reconciled with Uhuru through a historical handshake at Harambee House in Nairobi.
He currently works with the AU as High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa.
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