Robert Ouko (politician)

The Honorable Dr. John Robert Ouko (31 March 1931 – c. 13 February 1990), commonly known as Robert Ouko, was a Kenyan politician who served as Foreign Minister of Kenya from 1979 to 1983 and from 1988 to 1990. Robert Ouko served in the government of Kenya from the colonial period through the presidencies of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi. He was a member of the National Assembly for Kisumu and a cabinet minister, rising to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation by 1990. He was murdered in Kenya on 13 February 1990. The murder case, perhaps the most intriguing in Kenyan history, remains unsolved.

A report presented in parliament in 2010 states that the murder was carried out in one of then President Daniel arap Moi's official residences. It also called for further investigations into top officials, including one of Moi's closest allies, Nicholas Biwott, who denies responsibility. In late December 2010 the report was rejected by Parliament on the grounds of a lack of unity, and disagreements within the committee.

Ouko was born in Nyahera village, near Kisumu, Nyanza Province. He went to Ogada Primary School, Nyang’ori School. After schooling he studied at the Siriba Teachers Training College. He worked as a primary school teacher. In 1955 he landed a job as the revenue officer of Kisii District. In 1958 he joined the Haile Selassie University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, graduating in 1962 with a degree in Public Administration, Economics and Political Science. He then went to Makerere University in Uganda for a diploma in International Relations and Diplomacy.

At the time of his death, he had nearly finished his doctoral thesis, for which he was studying at the University of Nairobi. Despite being known as Dr. Ouko, he held only an honorary degree received in 1971 from the Pacific Lutheran University in Seattle.

...
Wikipedia