Isaac Omolo Okero: 10 years of resisting the Odinga wave

Between 1969 and 1979, Isaac Edwin Omolo Okero served as a cabinet minister and member of parliament for the Gem seat in the Siaya District. His political career was largely successful. Between 1969 and 1978, he worked in a number of Kenyatta administration departments. From 1978 to 1979, he temporarily held the position of Minister of Power and Communications in President Moi’s administration.

Okero’s name was closely associated with Gem and national politics for almost ten years. He demonstrated that he was a shrewd and intelligent politician who understood how to use political ploys to establish his dominance. These qualities helped him navigate the choppy waters of politics and set him apart from his contemporaries.

Following in the footsteps of notable individuals who had served the Gem seat, Okero entered politics at the age of forty. C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek and fervent Odinga fan Wasonga Sijeyo were in front of him. For a few months, Sijeyo was the seat holder. He was taken into custody and arrested for belonging to KPU.

On July 28, 1929, Okero, sometimes referred to as “The Barrister,” was born in Ulumbi hamlet in Gem, which is close to Yala town. He tended to the animals and grabbed firewood while working on the farm like other kids. Okero attended Ulumbi and Uranga elementary schools. He was born close to the residence of Senior Chief Odera Akang’o, a straight-forward man who made sure that education in Gem was not compromised. He recalls that “education was crucial at that time and you were nothing without education.”

Following elementary school, he attended Ambira High School, where Mark Wellington Ombaka, the father of Oki Ooko Ombaka, a later Gem MP, was the headmaster. The senior Ombaka was the first African to lead Ambira High School and the first from Gem to enroll at Makerere College.

Bethwel Ogot, a history professor and current Maseno University chancellor, and Wilson Warambo, Kenya’s first African Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), were Okero’s classmates at Ambira.

Okero and Ogot enrolled at Maseno School’s two-year Junior Secondary Education program during 1946 and 1947. His classmates at Maseno were Cabinet Ministers Ayodo, Odero Jowi, Burudi Nabwera, Edward Khashahala, and Thomas Odhiambo (the scientist who eventually built the international research center ICIPE), among other well-known politicians and professionals.

However, because of Okero’s rebellious behavior, the Maseno principal sent him to Alliance High School in Kikuyu in 1948 to complete his senior secondary studies. His classmates at Kikuyu (1948–1949) were Cyrus Muthiga, James Mugo Waiyaki, and Geoffrey Kareithi (who subsequently became Head of Civil Service).

After Ombaka Senior and Owiti Mudhune, Okero became the third individual from Ulumbi village to enroll at Makerere University College in 1950 after passing the entrance exam in 1949. Alongside him at Makerere were President Kibaki and James Gitonga, the former town clerk of Nairobi who had joined the organization in 1951.

Okero was one of the students that attended the University of London in 1952 to pursue degree programs. At the time, Minister Andrew Omanga was also in Makerere. Okero spearheaded a student walkout in August 1952, leading to his expulsion from Makerere. Expelled was also Josephat Karanja, who went on to become Vice President of Kenya.