Ababu Tawfiq Namwamba was born at the source of the great Rive Nile in Jinja, Uganda to Kenyan parents on December 23rd, 1974.
The last born in a family of eight, he grew up in Jinja and Kampala and, and later in Port Victoria, Eldoret and Nairobi, Kenya.
He is currently the Chief Counsel at the Chambers of Justice, which is a Public Interest Foundation he founded in 2002.
He also heads his own legal practice, Ababu Namwamba & Co. in Nairobi, Kenya. Mr Namwamba has made significant contributions to the democratization struggle in Kenya, right from his days as a student leader at the University of Nairobi.
Since 2003, he has advocated for democracy and good governance in Kenya in a research process dubbed “After the Promise”, which critically analyses performance of government and other political actors.
Hon Namwamba is a top Constitutional and International Human Rights Lawyer, he holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Kenya School of Law.
He also holds a Master of Laws Degree (LLM) in International Law from American University Washington College of Law.
Namwamba is a distinguished alumnus of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship and Hubert Humphrey Fellowship.
Namwaba is a first-term Member of Parliament for Budalangâ Constituency and has served as the ODM Parliamentary Secretary since 2008.
He chaired Parliamentâ crucial Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and also co-chaired the defunct Parliamentary Committee on Constitution Review that shepherded Kenya to a new constitutional dispensation.
He chaired the landmark Parliamentary Select Committee on Cost of Living. Further, he serves on Parliament Committee on Delegated Legislation; and is the Secretary of Bunge Football Club, of which he is the lead striker holding the all-time record of most goals scored.
Before his election to Parliament on his first attempt in 2007, he served as Chief Counsel at the Chambers of Justice (a Public Interest Foundation); headed his own law firm, Ababu Namwamba and Co advocates.
As a Member of Parliament, Ababu Namwamba has quickly established a distinguished profile as a fine legislator, accomplished debater and fearless defender of the public interest. He holds the record of having sponsored and pushed through the highest number of Motions in the 10th Parliament.
In 2009, Ababu was voted a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, joining an exclusive roll of honour of the world top young leaders. In 2003, he won the Jubilee Global Award for Social Justice in recognition of his international human rights work.
The Hubert Humphrey Fellow was a firebrand student leader at the University of Nairobi, where he also chaired the Kenya Law Students Society (KLSS).
He has met and interacted with top world leaders, including former UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan and US President Barack Obama.
Hon Namwamba was named to the cabinet in reshuffle announced by President Kibaki.
This was highly expected since the decamping of Mudavadi from the Orange party. Namwamba is viewed as very loyal to Prime Minister Odinga but in the recent past Ababu Namwamba quit ODM and he is looking for his political career elsewhere.