Ababu Namwamba is a charismatic and eloquent Kenyan politician, having held a number of positions including Member of Parliament for Budalangi and Cabinet Secretary. When President William Ruto named his Cabinet in 2022, he included Ababu Namwamba. However, barely two years after the appointment, Ababu was among the Cabinet Secretaries dismissed by Ruto. And when Ruto unveiled his final batch of nominees to the cabinet on July 24, Namwamba’s name was conspicuously missing. But who is this man?
Namwamba was born on 23rd December 1975 in Jinja, Uganda but his family relocated to Kenya due to Idi Amin’s reign of terror.
He is the youngest of eight children, with six brothers and two sisters. His mother is Mama Agatha Maina Namwamba, and his father was the late Peter Namwamba Lwecheche.
Namwamba began his early education at Milimani Nursery, Eldoret. He proceeded to Port Victoria Primary school where he sat his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).
Afterwards Ababu proceeded to Kolanya Boys High School in Teso North for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and thereafter was admitted to the school of law at University of Nairobi (UoN) in 1993 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in law whihc he completed in 1997.
Upon graduating at UoN, he got into legal practice and a few years down the line, he got an American government scholarship to do a master’s degree at the American University, Washington College of law in Washington DC.
After graduating from the University of Nairobi, he began practicing and, a few years later, received an American government scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at the American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C.
Also Read: Ababu Namwamba Lists His Achievements as Sports CS After Being Fired
Ababu Namwamba Career
While still at the university, he was elected student leader in 1996. During this time, he chaired the Kenya Law Students society and got a chance to meet prominent people, such as former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan. This opened up his mind and he knew he wanted to work in the diplomacy field.
He joined Public Law institute (PLI), Kenya’s first ever civil society organization for public interest where he worked until 2002.
After leaving PLI, he founded the chambers of justice, a public interest trust that he ran as chief counsel until 2007. The lawyer also formed his own law firm, Ababu Namwamba Attorneys-at-law.
In 2003, he founded a charity, Ababu Namwamba foundation. The private charity supports the education of young Kenyans across the country from primary level to university. The same year he secured a favorable ruling in a constitution case that affirmed the rights of children living with HIV/AIDS.
This case was filed after two schools in Ngong and Karen barred children with HIV/AIDS from Nyumbani Children’s Home. The case got him international acclimation, thus, making him win the 2004 Global Justice Award in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In 2004, he won a landmark legal battle which was a one of a kind in the country. A Kenyan born in Pakistan was wrongfully accused of terrorism.
Political Life of Namwamba
Ababu was conferred the Order of the Elder of the Golden Heart (EGH) in 2012, the highest civilian national honor of Kenya by former president Mwai Kibaki.
He went on to serve in former President Uhuru Kenyatta regime and before joining President Ruto’s administration as a cabinet secretary.
In 2006, he joined the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) vied and won the Budalangi constituency parliamentary seat under the party ticket in 2007.
He has vast experience as a legislator and chaired key House Committees such as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Review, Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He also set a record for the highest number of Private Member’s Motions and Bills in the 10th and 11th Parliament, respectively.
Additionally, he was the party’s parliamentary secretary from 2008 to 2013 and Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs from 2012 to 2013.
His reign is remembered for enactment of the long-desired Sports Act, actualizing the National Youth Council, strengthening of the National Youth Service (NYS) and Streamlining the National Youth Enterprise Fund.
Ababu in Cabinet
In 2016, he quit ODM and joined the Labor Party of Kenya where he has been the leader to date. However, in 2017, the party announced its support for President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ababu lost his Budalangi seat the same year.
Between 2018 and 2022, he served as the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Ruto appointed Ababu Namwamba to the Sports docket in 2022. Ruto shown the door in July 2024 after a bumpy ride.
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