Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga has said his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the country’s first Vice President, sponsored hundreds of Kenyan students to pursue their education both locally and abroad.
Raila made the revelation Saturday during celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of Jaramogi’s death. Besides his contribution to politics, he said Jaramogi’s played a huge role in shaping the dreams of hundreds of Kenyans.
“Jaramogi really wanted people to get education. He spent a lot of his time and money to promote education among Kenyans. At the time he died, there were 54 children in different stages of education; some in Primary, Secondary and University, whom he was sponsoring,” said Raila at the event held in Kisumu.
In that legacy, Raila says his father worked with many of his friends and liaised with countries like Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, China and others about scholarships for Kenyans to study for free. “Through that program, there are 5000 Kenyans who managed to study in the university. That was Jaramogi’s initiative which has never been recognized or appreciated,” he said
“People only highlight the 300 people taken by airlift from Embakasi to New York. It’s a drop of water in the ocean when compared with many Kenyans who studied through Jaramogi’s initiative, also in India, UK and United States. He sent other students to West African countries such as Ghana. It is an aspect of Jaramogi’s contribution that has never been appreciated,” added the ODM leader
