By Anderson Ojwang
Mama Ida Odinga has termed her nomination by President William Ruto to be Kenya’s Envoy to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as an honour.
Ida said she was very happy with the appointment and thanked all those who had sent her congratulatory messages.
Canon Ida, speaking at a church service, said:
“Thank you very much to all those who have congratulated me on this new appointment. To me, it is an honour and I am happy about it. But of late, I have been going through some challenges. I lost my husband about three months ago.
Before that, every time I stood here, people would introduce me and say she is the wife of… but these days I have been given another baptism — that of a widow. I still carry that name with pride.”
Canon Ida becomes the second high-profile Luo widow to be appointed to such a position, after former President Daniel arap Moi appointed Pamela Mboya in the 1980s. Pamela Mboya was the widow of freedom fighter and former KANU Secretary General, the late Tom Mboya.
The late Ambassador Dr Joseph Odero Jowi played a critical role in bringing the UNEP headquarters to Africa, and specifically to Nairobi, Kenya, during his tenure as Kenya’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York.
Last Friday, President William Ruto nominated Ida Odinga as the country’s Envoy to UNEP and transmitted her name to Parliament for vetting.
The Friday nomination of Mama Ida by President Ruto, coming after the demise of Raila Amolo Odinga and amid the high-octane politics in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) over a pre-election pact with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), has left tongues wagging.
The Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, issued a communiqué stating that the President had formally transmitted the nomination of Mama Ida Odinga to the National Assembly for consideration and approval, in line with constitutional requirements governing appointments to the Foreign Service.
He described Mama Ida as a distinguished educationist, civic leader, and advocate for social justice and gender equity.
Koskei noted in the communiqué that she began her career as a graduate teacher at Highway Secondary School in Nairobi before later teaching at Kenya High School, where she spent more than a decade in the classroom.
The communiqué further stated that Mama Ida’s life’s work has been marked by a commitment to advancing women’s education and empowerment, standing against authoritarianism and injustice, promoting freedom of expression, and championing gender equity.
“In the early 1990s, amid the national clamour to transition from a single-party State to a multiparty democracy, she played a key role in advancing calls for change and democratic reform as the founding Chairperson of the League of Kenya Women Voters. Since then, she has consistently championed initiatives that improve the lives of women, children, the youth, and vulnerable communities.”
Her appointment to the role, subject to parliamentary approval, is expected to amplify Kenya’s voice on environmental issues and further reinforce the country’s longstanding leadership in environmental diplomacy, as well as its pivotal role as host of the UN’s principal environmental authority.
Retirement in the Public Interest
In the mid-1980s, during Kenya’s one-party rule under KANU, Ida Odinga was retired from her teaching position at Kenya High School under what was termed “public interest.” Her only crime was being the wife of a man who refused to bow to dictatorship.
At the time, Raila Odinga, son of Kenya’s first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, had been detained without trial for his alleged role in the 1982 coup attempt.
Barely weeks after his arrest, his wife was dismissed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), her termination delivered coldly through an official letter dated September 12. The letter instructed her to vacate the school premises immediately and surrender all property belonging to the institution.
By the time of her retirement, Ida Odinga had served diligently as a teacher for 15 years. However, she did not despair in the face of the new challenge brought to her doorstep by the Moi administration.
“I had lost a husband, a job, and a home. What should one do? They will chase me away, and I will have no home,” she told reporters as her household goods were loaded onto two lorries.
At the time of her retirement, Ida Odinga received no warning and no explanation — only a curt message informing her that she would receive her final dues after handing over her clearance forms.
