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Raila Odinga Profile
Raila Odinga is a Kenyan politician, former Member of Parliament for Langata, and businessman who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He has been assumed to be the Leader of the Opposition in Kenya since 2013.
Raila Odinga Age
Odinga is 78 years old as of 2023. He was born on 7th January 1945 in Maseno, Kisumu County, Kenya ( East Africa). He celebrates his birthday on the 7th of January every year.
Raila Odinga Height
He stands at a height of 5 feet 9 inches tall.
Raila Odinga Education
He received his primary education at ‘Kisumu Union Primary School’, ‘And Maranda Primary’ and later attended ‘Maranda High School’. Starting in 1962, he spent two years at the ‘Herder Institut’, part of the ‘The University of Leipzig in East Germany.
He then earned a scholarship to the ‘Technical School’ in Magdeburg, East Germany. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in Mechanical engineering. After completing his graduate studies in 1970, Raila returned to Kenya, where he became a lecturer at the ‘University of Nairobi.’
Raila Odinga Family and Siblings
Odinga is the son to Mary Ajuma Odinga and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. U.S. President Barack Obama’s father was from the same Kenyan village as Odinga. Additionally, his father served as the first Vice President of Kenya under President Jomo Kenyatta. He has a sibling Oburu from the well-known Odinga family Ruth Odinga and Wenwa Akinyi Odinga.
Raila Odinga Wife and Children
He exchanged wedding vows with Ida in 1973 and the family resides in Karen, Nairobi. They have four children: Fidel, Rosemary, Raila Jr., and Winnie. The couple had four children: Fidel (1973–2015), Rosemary (born 1977), Raila Jr. (born 1979), and Winnie (born 1990). Moreover, Fidel was named after Fidel Castro and Winnie after Winnie Mandela. Winnie is currently studying Communication and International Area Studies as a double major student at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Raila Odinga Career
In 1971, while still teaching at the ‘University of Nairobi’ he established what would become. ‘East African Spectre Ltd.’ is a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas cylinders. In 1974 he left the ‘University of Nairobi and began working at the ‘Kenya Bureau of Standards as a group standards manager. Additionally, Four years later he was promoted to Deputy Director of the ‘Kenya Bureau of Standards.’
Raila Odinga Political Career
In 1992 he returned to Kenya and joined ‘FORD’, the ‘Forum for the Restoration of Democracy.’ He was elected Vice Chairman of the ‘General Purposes Committee of FORD’. In 1992, ‘FORD’ split into two factions, ‘FORD-Kenya’ led by Raila’s father, and ‘FORD-Asili’ led by Kenneth Matiba. Raila was appointed Deputy Director of Elections of ‘FORD-Kenya.
The same year, he won a seat in Parliament and began to be known as one of the fathers of multi-party democracy in the country. He ran for President in the 1997 General Election, finishing third but keeping his seat in Parliament. After the election he began to support President Moi’s government, leading a merger between his party and Moi’s ‘KANU’ party.
From June 2001 to 2002, he served on the Cabinet of President Moi as Energy Minister. This same year, he was also elected the ‘KANU’ party’s secretary general. Additionally, In 2002, in opposition to President Moi’s choice of a presidential candidate, Raila left ‘KANU’ to form the ‘Liberal Democratic Party.’ This party then joined with the ‘National Alliance of Kenya to form the ‘National Rainbow Coalition.
In the later part of the year, he was appointed minister of roads, public works, and housing in the new President’s cabinet. Furthermore, in 2005, following a political controversy, the President dismissed his entire cabinet and reassembled it, without Odinga and his allies, leading him to form a new coalition, the ‘Orange Democratic Movement.’
Raila Odinga losing
In 2007, Raila ran for president again, narrowly losing. He disputed the result, and widespread violence and rioting broke out. As a result of the violence following the 2007 election, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stepped in and helped reach an agreement between Odinga and the President. To form a coalition government, Odinga was sworn in on April 17, 2008, as Prime Minister. In 2013, he ran again for president narrowly losing. At first, challenging the results, when the Supreme Court upheld them, he conceded the election
Raila Odinga Imprisonment
In 1982, he was accused of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt against the President. He was charged with treason and imprisoned, without trial, for six years. Shortly after his release, he was rearrested for involvement with activists pushing for multi-party democracy in Kenya, in September 1988.
He was released from prison on June 12, 1989, but a year later was arrested again. He was released from prison on June 21, 1991, and in October left Kenya for Norway. His decision to leave his motherland was probably because of the assassination threats he claimed to have received from the Kenyan government.
Raila Odinga Presidential candidate (5 times)
Odinga has unsuccessfully stood for election as President of Kenya five times. In 1997, he finished third as the candidate of the National Development Party with 667,886 votes. Additionally, in 2007, Odinga received 2,656 votes. Odinga ran for president in the elections held on 4 March 2013 and garnered 5,340,546 votes in 2013.
2017 Odinga’s 6.7 million, and in 2022 he got 6,942,930 Votes, his opponent being William Ruto who was Deputy President of Kenya since 2013. His Odinga was the runner-up as a candidate for the Orange Democratic Movement. On 10 December 2021, Odinga announced that he would be eyeing a fifth stab at the presidency. Moreover, he put an end to months of suspense after his surprise truce with President Kenyatta. His announcement was made while launching the Azimio La Umoja Convention. Which would be his vehicle to State House held at the Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi.
Raila Odinga The Handshake and BBI
In March 2018, Raila and Uhuru had a political handshake intended to cool the political temperatures after the 2017 general elections. Furthermore, the handshake gave birth to the Building Bridges Initiative alias BBI. Following the March 2018 truce between Odinga and President Kenyatta, the two commissioned a joint task force that would collect views from Kenyans and report their findings. After touring the country and holding consultative sessions, the team compiled and submitted the report to President Kenyatta at State House Nairobi on 26 November 2019.
Which was followed by a public launch at the Bomas of Kenya the following day. The efforts by President Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga to bring peace and cohesion to the country were applauded by several leaders locally. Additionally, internationally the duo is being invited to a National Prayer Breakfast International Lunch in Washington DC. In the USA in February 2020 The Building Bridges Initiative was thereby termed null and void by the courts in Kenya as per the constitution.
Raila Odinga 2019 gold scam
Odinga has been reportedly linked to a 2019 multi-million dollar advance-fee scam of non-existent. Furthermore, “fake gold” in Kenya by several politicians from both sides of the political divide in Kenya. According to the reports, UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s cousin lost money in disguised transactions for non-existent or otherwise “fake gold” in Kenya.
In May 2019, in a leaked video recording, the voice of Moses Wetangula. The then-senator of Bungoma appeared to implicate Odinga in a gold deal gone sour. A deal in which millions of dollars were lost by the UAE royal family in an advance fee scam of non-existent gold in Kenya. Additionally, in the same video as was reported Wetangula claimed Odinga runs ODM like a Gestapo.
Nothing happens without his concessions, and Odinga met the president to explain the matter of the gold deal. In the same month, Odinga claimed that he was the one who outed the confidence tricksters to the Dubai-based complainants. Later in the same month, several political leaders in Kenya called for Odinga to be investigated by the DCI for international conmanship.
The legislators claimed they had compelling evidence against Odinga. According to them, Odinga cannot be part of a criminal transaction. Moreover, they claim to be a whistleblower at the same time, whilst being a direct individual beneficiaries of the proceeds of the scam.
Raila Odinga Net Worth
Odinga has an estimated annual net worth of $ 2 billion to $3 billion earned from his career as a Politician.
Raila Odinga Social Media Platforms
Odinga is active on his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages. He has 4.2 Million followers on Twitter, 141k followers on Instagram, and 1.8M followers on Facebook.
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