Joshua Orwa Ojode

Joshua Orwa Ojode (29 December 1958 – 10 June 2012) was a Kenyan politician.He was first appointed into parliament on June 28, 1994 to represent the Ndhiwa Constituency.^[3] He belonged to the Orange Democratic Movement representing the Ndhiwa Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007. He was the assistant minister for provincial administration and internal security.^[4] He first came to parliament in the year 1994 but through the National Development party headed by the current Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Orwa Ojode, famous as Sirikal, maintained a spirited fight protecting the police force.

Early life

He attended Ratanga primary school(1966-1972) before proceeding to Maranda School (1973-1976).^[5] He later proceeded to Ramapo College of New Jersey (1988-1991) where he acquired a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies and International Studies after having successfully served as an assistant water bailiff at the ministry of water between 1978-1981. Before then he was working at Nile Investments Central Africa Limited (1983-1986) as the marketing manager and at the PolyPipes Limited between (1986-1987) in the same position of marketing manager.^[6] He also occasionally taught at Aquinas High School.

Political career

He entered politics in 1994 as a member of parliament for the Ndhiwa Constituency.^[6] He was later re-elected during the 1997 elections and later appointed as Assistant Minister for education, science & technology in the year 2000. In 2001, while he was serving as assistant minister of education, science & technology, he tabled an alternative bill to what the government of Kenya had presented. The petroleum Amendment bill, 2001 that he drafted, proposed a regulatory authority but with some differences.^[7]

Death

Ojode died on 10 June 2012 in a police helicopter crash in Kenya.^[8] At the time of his death, Orwa Ojode was the Member of Parliament for the Ndhiwa constituency as well as a renowned business person. He was an avid defender of the government of Kenya and had a very strict stand on matters concerning security.^[9] It was under his watch and that of his head, Minister for defence Prof. George Saitoti (with whom they perished in the crash), that the repulsion of the Al-Shabaab in Somalia, dubbed Operation linda nchi (guard the nation), was launched. He will be remembered for ceaselessly defending the head of his ministry and the political stands that he took together with the party he belonged to. On May 11, 2009,^[10] Orwa Ojode had survived a chopper crash with the then Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, RiftValley PC Hassan Noor and several journalists. When Kenya's Grand Coalition Government was formed in 2008, Ojode was among those who were lined up for ministerial positions. His career, however, hit a record low when Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party failed to name him a full minister as had been promised.

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