A former Cabinet Minister was confirmed dead on Friday, November 1, 2024. Former Education Minister Peter Castro Oloo Aringo, who also served as the Alego Usonga Member of Parliament (MP), died after spending 22 years outside active politics.
Current Alego Usoga MP Samuel Atandi announced his death on Friday evening.
Atandi broke the news while revealing that the former MP who served as a Cabinet minister during former President Daniel Arap Moi’s reign passed away while receiving treatment.
“I break the sad news of the sudden demise of Hon Oloo Aringo, former Cabinet Minister & Mp Alego Usonga . Hon Aringo passed on this evening at Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi,” said Atandi.
Oloo Aringo represented Alego Constituency in Parliament in two separate stints between 1974 and 2002.
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Political career of Former Cabinet Minister Oloo Aringo
He is widely remembered as a long-serving MP who oversaw the implementation of the 8-4-4 education system when he served as a Minister for Education under former President Moi.
Additionally, the Kenya Science Teachers’ College was expanded, and the Kenya Technical Trainers’ College (KTTC) was launched to address the needs of the new technical education system.
It was also Aringo who presented bills in Parliament that were enacted into law to make Moi, Maseno and Egerton universities into public institutions.
Besides the Education docket, Aringo also headed various other ministries during his 15-year stint in the Cabinet under President Daniel arap Moi.
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Moi’s confidence in Aringo led to his first Cabinet appointment as Minister for Information and Broadcasting before he was moved to Environment, Labour, Education and finally, the Ministry of Employment.
Education and election as Alego Usonga MP
The 83-year-old attended St. Mary’s School in Yala, Kenya before graduating with as first-class bachelor’s degree in history, economics and politics at the University of Nairobi (UoN).
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He later won a Commonwealth scholarship to study for a master’s degree in international comparative education at Toronto University in Canada.
After graduating in 1972, Aringo returned home for a holiday as he waited to start his doctorate program.
He vented into politics in 1974 with his first attempt at vying for the seat in Siaya District being a huge success after he romped home with a whopping big margin against that his closest rival.
It was during his third term as the Alego-Usonga MP that Moi made him an assistant minister before appointing him a full Minister.
His legacy in Environment was the creation of the National Environment Management Authority within a year of his transfer.
He also worked in the Labour docket for one year before going back to the Ministry of Education, which he headed for seven years straight.
Former Alego-Usonga MP mourned
Former ICT Cabinet Secretary and deputy Chief of Staff Eliud Owalo is among leaders from the Nyanza region who have mourned the former Cabinet Minister.
Owalo expressed grief and shock and recalled moments with the late earlier this year.
It’s with great shock and utter disbelief that I have learnt of the demise of former Cabinet Minister Peter “Castro” Oloo Aringo.
Early this year on 14th January 2024, I voted Hon. Oloo Aringo at his Nairobi residence where we had a lengthy conversation on various issues.
He added, “We will remember Oloo Aringo as an eloquent and intelligent Cabinet Minister, an Avid Debater during his stint as MP; and subsequently as a pioneer of Kenya’s Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
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