A remarkable story of legacy and leadership, this is about a father and daughter who served in the cabinets of two different Kenyan presidents—a father and son.
The father, the late William Odongo Omamo, served under Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's founding president, while the daughter, Raychelle Omamo, held positions in his son's cabinet, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The late William Omamo, a close ally of Kenya's founding president, entered politics in 1969 after quitting as the principal of Egerton College to contest the Bondo parliamentary seat, which he won.
Omamo defied the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the political kingpin of the Nyanza region, and sided with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
In 1975, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta appointed Omamo the minister of Environment and Natural Resources. He would later serve as Minister in the ministries of Agriculture and Livestock and Research and Technology in Kenyatta's and Moi's administrations.
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In 1997, he lost his parliamentary seat and never made a comeback. He kept a low profile until April 2010, when he died at 82.
Three years after William Omamo's death, Uhuru Kenyatta won the country's presidency and appointed Ambassador Raychelle Omamo as Cabinet Secretary for Defence.
Amb Omamo was the first female in the country to hold the post and served until January 2020. She was later reshuffled and transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the same capacity.
She was among the few cabinet secretaries in Uhuru's government for 10 years. During this period, several cabinet reshuffles occurred, and several Cabinet Secretaries were sent home.
Amb Omamo boasts a rich curriculum vitae (CV). She is a Senior Counsel and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She was the first female Chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya from 2001 to 2003 after serving as a council member from 1996 to 2000.
She was also the first female Kenyan ambassador to France, Portugal, the Holy See, and Serbia and the Permanent Delegate of Kenya to UNESCO.
In 2018, the relationship between the Kenyattas and the Omamo advanced when Uhuru Kenyatta's first son, Jomo Kenyatta, married his long-time sweetheart, Fiona Achola, who is Raychelle Omamo's niece.
