Raila Odinga

Raila Odinga was named Kenyan Prime Minister on April 13, 2008. He was previously a member of Parliament and was the losing candidate in the 2007 Kenya Elections.

Odinga challenged the results after Mwai Kibaki won the 2007 election by a margin of 230,000 votes. Kibaki announced on April 13, 2008, that he would name Odinga Prime Minister, as part of a power sharing contract. The move was made partly to stop the violence that occurred following the elections.

Odinga is the son of the first Vice President of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga; his brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently a Member of Parliament. He is commonly referred to by his first name due to coincidence as he was in the parliament at the same time as his father between 1992 and 1994. After receiving a degree in Electrical Engineering from Technical University, Magdeburg, East Germany, Raila returned to Kenya to work as a lecturer at the University of Narobi. In 1982, after being suspected of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt against President Daniel Arap Moi, Raila was placed under house arrest for seven months. Charged with treason, he was detained without trial for six years.

• MySpace.com: Raila Odinga Profile

• January 7, 1945: Born

• 1975: Appointed Deputy Director Of The Kenya Bureau Of Standards

• 1982: Placed Under House Arrest and released In February 1988

• 1988: Rearrested For His Involvement With The Kenya Revolutionary Movement

• 1989: Released In June

• 1990: Incarcerated Again In July

• 1991: Released And Fled To Norway Alleging Assassination Attempts

• 1992: Returned To Kenya To Join FORD & Won The Langata Constituency Parliamentary Seat

• 1994: Left FORD-Kenya To Join The National Development Party

• 2002: Passed Over For The Presidential Ticket & Helped Form The National Rainbow Coalition

• 2007: Became The Head Of The Orange Democratic Movement & Selected as its presidential candidate

• 2008: Named Kenyan Prime Minister by Mwai Kibaki

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