Thomas Okelo-Odongo
Thomas Okelo-Odongo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Odongo receiving the Eurafrican Order of Merit in 1981 | |
| Member of the Kenyan Parliament | |
| In office 1963–1966 | |
| Constituency | Kisumu Rural |
| Member of the Kenyan Parliament | |
| In office 1966–1969 | |
| Succeeded by | Wilson Ndolo Ayah |
| Constituency | Kisumu Rural |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1927 |
| Died | 20 September 1991 (aged 63–64) |
| Party | KANU and KPU |
| Spouse | Carolyn Okelo-Odongo (1959-) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Howard University |
| Nickname | Tom Okelo-Odongo |
Thomas Okelo-Odongo (1927–1991) was a Kenyan politician, economist, and diplomat. He was elected as an MP for Kisumu Rural in 1963 under the Kenya African National Union party (KANU), serving as Assistant Minister for Finance.[1][2] He later defected to the Kenya People's Union (KPU) founded by then ex-Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.[3][4] He spent the latter part of his career serving on various executive boards of international financial organizations.
Personal life
Thomas Okelo-Odongo was born in 1927 to Luo parents in Owaga Ward, Kisumu, Kenya.[5][6]
In the late 1950s, he left Kenya to pursue a Master of Arts (M.A.) at Howard University in Washington, D.C., United States. He met his wife Carolyn Odongo (née Jackson) in 1957 while completing his Master's, marrying two years later in 1959.[7][8] In 1960, they moved to live in London, England, before moving to Kenya in 1962 on the eve of the country's independence as the Commonwealth realm of Kenya. Upon returning to Kenya, Carolyn renounced her American citizenship due to Kenya's prohibition of dual citizenship at the time.[9]
On 22 August 1966, Carolyn was arrested at their home after serving as a private secretary to Odinga.[8][7][10] She was detained for 2 years and 4 months without access to visitation on ambiguous charges under the Preservation of Public Security Act.[11] She was the first woman in Kenya to be detained without due process.[9]
Okelo-Odongo had a son named William, and a daughter from a previous marriage, and with Karolyn, adopted a son named Francis.[8][6]
Thomas Okelo-Odongo died on 20 September 1991 at an unspecified Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya.[6]
Career
Electoral politics
Okelo-Odongo first joined the Kenyan Parliament as the MP for Kisumu Rural in 1963 as a member of the KANU party. During this first term, he served as Assistant Minister for Finance.
In 1966, he defected to the KPU along with several other MPs following Jaramogi Oginga Odinga due to ideological differences with the KANU.[3][4] In response to the creation of the KPU, the National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment requiring defectors to the KPU to seek re-election.[12] However, Okelo-Odongo was re-elected in the 1966 by-election in Kisumu Rural constituency.[1][12] Later in 1969, he was arrested and detained following the Kisumu massacre incited by an altercation between Odinga and then President Jomo Kenyatta, after which the KPU was banned.[3]
Economic leadership and diplomacy
In 1971, he was appointed as a member of the Industrial court for a three-year term.by the then Minister of Labour E.N. Mwendwa.[13] That same year, he was also appointed chairman of the Board of Directors of Kenya Reinsurance Corporation by the then Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Mwai Kibaki.[14] During his appointment, he also became the secretary general of the African insurance Organization following its establishment in 1973.[15]
He was appointed a director of the African Development Bank from 1976 to 1979 in Côte d'Ivoire.[7] In 1979, he was appointed as the secretary-general of the African Caribbean and Pacific group of states (ACP) in Belgium.[7][16] He served as secretary-general until the end of his appointment in 1984, being succeeded by Edwin W. Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago.[17]
References
- 1 2 Center for Multiparty Democracy: Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007 Archived 2008-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Times, Special to The New York (1965-04-10). "KENYA CHIDES AIDE FOR PRO-RED TALK". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- 1 2 3 Gekara, Emeka-Mayaka (23 October 2009). "The incident that transformed Kenya into a de facto one-party state". Daily Nation. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- 1 2 Kariuki, Samuel (2008). "WE'VE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK… Can a Botched Land Reform Programme Explain Kenya's Political Crisis?" (PDF). Journal of African Elections. 7 (2): 142.
- ↑ David D. Laitin: Politics, Language, and Thought: The Somali Experience, S. 166, University of Chicago Press, 1977, ISBN 978-0-226-46791-7
- 1 2 3 "Gazette Notice No. 4743". The Kenya Gazette. 30 October 1992. p. 1432. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "CAROLYN OKELO-ODONGO Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information". memorials.peoplesfh.com. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- 1 2 3 Neeld, Dennis (13 October 1967). "Kenya Holds Woman Incommunicado". The Rocky Mountain News. Vol. 109, no. 174. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- 1 2 "Carolyn Odongo: First woman to be locked without trial". Daily Nation. 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ Times, Special to The New York (1966-10-09). "Kenya Refuses to Free 8 Opposition Leaders; Regime Says Foes, Detained Without Trial, Are Threat to Country's Security". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ "Card Scheme Newsletter" (PDF). Amnesty International. January 1967. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- 1 2 "Kenya People's Union (KPU)". Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ "The Trade Disputes Act - Appointment of Members of the Industrial Court". The Kenya Gazette. 8 October 1971. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- ↑ "CHIBOLI SHAKABA: Kenya Re, a rich heritage with a golden future". The Star. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- ↑ "History of the African Insurance Organization". www.atlas-mag.net. 2026-05-03. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ United Nations General Assembly Session 36 35th Plenary Meeting. Observer status for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in the General Assembly. 15 October 1981. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
- ↑ Reinalda, Bob; Kille, Kent J.; Eisenberg, Jaci, eds. (March 2017). "Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2026.