William Odhiambo Okello, the man who facilitated former Vice President the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s international ties has died.
Okello who died in his home in Nairobi aged 86, on Monday is said to have been the force behind Oginga’s links with communist countries during his tenure and after.
In his heydays, then an ambassador, Okello reportedly introduced Oginga to communism, and went ahead to establish political ties for him in many countries.
According to Oginga’s first-born son and East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) parliamentarian Oburu Odinga, he secured scholarship for Kenyans in many communist nations like Russia and Hungary.
“He secured many scholarships in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and East Germany. Tickets to these countries were only available in Cairo or London offices,’’ he told the Standard on Tuesday.
He also facilitated Oburu’s travel and admission in a Moscow university in 1962.
After opening KANU party office in Cairo, Egypt in 1969 alongside his associates Wera Ambitho and Abdulla Karungo, the trio concentrated on liberation ideologies against the British colonialism.
Their efforts would later pay off years later after Kenya finally freed herself from the colonialists in 1963.
Until his death, Okello was a close friend of the Odingas.
After his retirement, Okello lived a quiet life at his rural home in Siaya.