By Anderson Ojwang
Raila Amolo Odinga’s family has welcomed the nomination of Mama Ida Odinga by President William Ruto as Kenya’s Envoy to UNEP, terming it a deserved and merited achievement.
The family’s last-born daughter, Winnie Odinga, said they were excited about the appointment and dismissed those asking her mother to decline the nomination.
“I absolutely believe my mother merited the appointment. She is qualified, educated, and has experience in governance and management at a high level of society. I believe she has earned respect in her position in society. The nature of Kenya is that when someone gets something, people feel they are the ones who deserve it. I believe she is going to do the right thing, and she deserves it,” she said.
Ida, at the weekend, 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 those who have congratulated me on this new appointment. To me, it is an honor, 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, I would be introduced as the wife of… but these days, I have been given another baptism — that is, the widow of — and I still carry that name with pride.”
Canon Ida becomes the second high-profile Luo widow, after former President Daniel Arap Moi appointed Pamela Mboya to the post in the 1980s. She 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, specifically Nairobi, Kenya, during his tenure as Kenya’s ambassador to New York.
Last Friday, President William Ruto nominated Ida 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 high-octane politics in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) over the 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, in the communiqué, noted 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 notes that Mama Ida’s life’s work has been marked by a commitment to advancing women’s education and empowerment, as well as standing against authoritarianism and injustice, promoting freedom of expression, and championing gender equity.
“In the early 1990s, amid the national clamor 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 this role, subject to the requisite 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, he said.
Retirement in public interest
In the mid-1980s, during Kenya’s one-party rule under KANU, Ida Odinga was retired under what was termed “in the public interest” from her teaching position at Kenya High School. 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 shown the door by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), her dismissal 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 but did not despair at 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 did not receive any warning or explanation, only a curt message that she would receive her final dues after handing over the clearance form.
