Raila Odinga
Prime Minister of Kenya
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 April 2008
President: Mwai Kibaki
Preceded by: Jomo Kenyatta (1963 – 1964)
Born: 7 January 1945 (age 64)
Maseno, Kenya
Political party: ODM
Spouse(s): Ida Odinga (born 1950)
Religion: Anglican
Raila Amollo Odinga (born January 7, 1945) is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads, Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005. He was the main opposition candidate in the disputed 2007 presidential election. Following a post-electoral crisis that resulted in the deaths of 1,500 people and the displacement of 600,000 more, Odinga took office as Prime Minister, at the head of a national unity government, in April 2008.
Odinga is the son of the first Vice President of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga; Raila’s brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently a Member of Parliament (MP). Raila is commonly known by his first name due to coincidence: he was an MP at the same time as his father between 1992 and 1994, and is currently in the House with Oburu. Raila was a presidential contender in the 1997 elections, coming third after President Daniel arap Moi of KANU and Mwai Kibaki now the current president of Kenya but then a member of the Democratic Party. Odinga campaigned to run for president in the December 2007 elections on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket.
On September 1, 2007, Raila Odinga was elected as the presidential candidate of the ODM. He garnered significant support in the 2007 General Election, with majority of the votes in his native Nyanza province and a considerable mileage in Rift Valley, Western, Coast, Nairobi (Capital) and North Eastern provinces. Kibaki led in his native Central province and beat Raila in Eastern province. Out of the 2007 elections, his party, ODM, got 99 out of 200 seats in the parliament which makes ODM the party with the majority seats in Parliament.
On December 30, 2007, the chairman of the Kenyan election commission declared Raila’s opponent, incumbent president Kibaki, the winner of the presidential election by a margin of about 230,000 votes. Raila has disputed the results, alleging fraud by the election commission but has refused an election petition before the courts. Independent international observers have since stated that the poll was marred by irregularities on both sides, especially at the final vote tallying stages.[1] Many Kenyans across the country rioted against the announced election results.
