HON. ABABU T NAMWAMBA EGH MP....................ODM SECRETARY GENERAL ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FAMILY LIFE: Hon. Ababu Namwamba,EGH, MP was born at the source of the great River Nile in Jinja,Uganda to Kenyan parents on December 23rd 1975.The last born in a family of 8 he grew up in Jinja and Kampala,and later in Port Victoria,Eldoret and Nairobi.He is the son to Mama Agatha Maina Namwamba and the late Peter Lwecheche Namwamba of the extensive Abamulembe clan.Ababu is married to Prisca and is a father of four; Nkosi,Lulu,Tanya-Helena and Ababu Junior Che. EDUCATION: Ababu is a top Constitutional and International Human Rights Lawyer trained in Nairobi, and in Washington DC,USA> He holds a Masters of Law Degree (LLM) in International Law from American Universitys Washington College of Law; a Honours Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Kenya School of Law.He is a distinguished Hubert Humphrey Fellow and an alumnus of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. EARLY CAREER: Before his election to Parliament on first attempt in 2007,Ababu had already built a highly impressive profile as a public Attorney and crusader for Accountable government.He started off under the able tutelage of the late eminent Constitutional lawyer Dr. Oki Ooko Ombaka at the Public Law Institute (PLI). In 2002,he founded the Chambers of Justice,a Public Interest Trust he would lead as Chief Counsel until 2007 alongside his own law firm -ABABU NAMWAMBA ATTORNEYS-AT- LAW. In this period he was active on the International lobbying circus,strongly advocating for international human rights,fair trade practices and debt relief for Africa through platforms like the World Social Forum in such far flung corners of the globe as Mumbai,India and Porto.Alegre,Brazil. Ever the avid reader and writer,Ababu became a regular columnist with the Sunday Nation during a Sabbatical spell in Washington DC.He would later shift to the Sunday Standard for who he continues to pen weekly political analysis column. In 2003,he initiated the Ababu Namwamba Foundation (ANF), a private charity that supports the education of hundred of young Kenyans across the Country.Ababu calls ANF his payback to Kenya having been a beneficiary of Jomo Kenyatta Foundation in High School. POLITICAL CAREER: Ababus political destiny was sealed way back in high school the moment he first read NOT YET UHURU,that stirring political epic by the godfather of Kenyas libertarian struggle,the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.A school Captain then,Ababu would proceed to enroll in the youth ranks of FORD Kenya,remaining active after moving on to the University of Nairobi where he was elected a student leader in 1996. In 2002,he joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),and worked as a Volunteer for the NARC juggernaut as the Coalition scattered the Nyayo State to the four winds.He remained active in LDP activities,including in the Diaspora during his post-graduate studies in the USA.He made his natural progression from LDP to ODM in 2006,and has been a proud Orange since. His bid for the Budalangi seat in 2007 was a culmination of his heady political odyssey.Ikholo as popularly known in Budalangi won with ease.Today Ababu is serving his second term in the National Assembly,having recaptured his seat in the March 2013 elections in commanding style. In his first term he rose to serve as Kenyas Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs.For the entire duration that of his term 2008-2013,he served impeccably as Parliamentary Secretary for ODM,Kenyas single largest political party both in and out of Parliament. For the 2013 political battle,he fashioned and superbly marshaled two front-line platoons: ODM -RELOADED and CORD EFFECT that captured the political imagination countrywide,leading to his being baptized Generali by millions of ODM/CORD youth across the country. He currently chairs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),a Parliaments premier oversight Committee,serves as a Commissioner with the Kenya National Audit Commission and is Secretary General of the Eastern Africa Association Of Public Accounts Committee (EPAC). The high profile Budalangi legislator now also anchors the African Organization of Public Accounts Committee (AFROPAC),whose Secretariat he helped bring to Nairobi in September 2012. Ababu has preciously served Parliaments committee on Justice and Legal Affairs and also co-chaired the defunct Parliamentary Committee on Constitution Review that shepherded Kenya to a new Constitutional dispensation in 2012 under the able counsel of Raila Odinga. He also initiated and chaired the landmark Parliamentary Select Committee on cost of living in 2011,and has been Secretary of Bunge Football Club,of which he is the lead striker holding the all-time record of most goals scored. ACHIEVEMENTS: Ababu has established a distinguished profile as a fine legislator,accomplished debater and a fearless defender of truth,justice and the public interest. His fidelity to the truth is anchored in Mahatma Gandhis teaching that an error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation,nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.Truth stands,even if there be no public support.It is self-sustained. Ababu holds the record of the highest number of successful motions in the 10th Parliament.He has transformed the fortunes of Budalangi from the hitherto backwater flood-ravaged land to a respected thriving constituency.earning the adoration of his voters.His reign as Sports and Youth Affairs Minister will be remembered for the success in finally enacting the long desired Sports Act and rolling out of the National Youth Council. In December 2012,he was conferred the national honour of Elder of Golden Heart (EGH) by President Mwai Kibaki.In 2009,he had been voted a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum,joining an exclusive roll of honour of the worlds top young leaders.In 2003,Ababu won the Jubilee Global Award for Social Justice in recognition oh his International Human Rights work. In the circus of the legal profession,Ababu Namwamba is among pioneers in public interest litigation for the voiceless and defenseless.He grabbed national attention in 2004 when he won a landmark legal battle in which his client,a Kenyan-born Pakistani was wrongly accused of terrorist activities.It was the first case of its kind in Kenya.Ababu had already made a name in 2003 when he secured a historic ruling in a Constitutional case that affirmed the right of children living with HIV/AIDS to attend public schools unfettered.He filed the case for the Chambers of Justice and Nyumbani Childrens Home after two schools in Ngong and Karen barred children from Nyumbani n account of their health status.As counsel for Swiss national Mariann Bryner,Ababu was again in the public eye in 2004/5 as he played a central role in the last probe into the mysterious death of the late Dr. Robert Ouko. The Hubert Humphrey Fellow/Fulbright Alumni was a firebrand student leader at the University of Nairobi,where he also chaired the Kenya Law Students Society (KLSS). He has met and interacted with top world leaders including former United Nations Secretyary General Kofi Annan and US President Barrack Obama. INSPIRATION: Ababu says God and his family are the center of his universe and draws great inspiration from his mum Agatha and his immediate close-knit family of wife Prisca and their four children.He is driven by conviction,honesty and the genuine love for the people i serve whenever,wherever.You got to stand for something,or you will fall for anything! he quips. Never one to stay away from a challenge,he draws inspiration from icons like Nelson Mandela,Mahatma Gandhi,Martin Luther King,Mother Teresa,Abraham Lincoln,Barrack Obama, and of course his political and life mentors Jaramogi and Raila Odinga (BABA) In response to to the question as to why he stands up to be counted against all odds,he quotes Abraham Lincoln: To remain silent when you must speak makes cowards of men And why does he love to walk where none has dared tread? He draws his answer from Ralph Waldo Emerson: Do not get where the path leads,go instead where there is no path and leave a trail, and concludes with this line from George Bernard Shaw: Some people see things that are,and ask why,but I dream things that never were,and ask why not! The reason for his tendency to spice politics with a touch of intellectual flavor? He responds with a gem from Galileo Galilee: I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense ,reason and intellect has intended us to fore go their use! HOBBIES: Ababu loves playing and watching soccer.When not scoring goals for Bunge FC,he watches his cherished Arsenal of the English Premier League (he professes to be a Gunner for Life!). He also enjoys gardening,nature exploration,reading and writing.He is widely traveled and has visited virtually all parts of Kenya,as well as such diverse parts of the world in USA,India,Britain,Holland,Switzerland,German,France, Slovakia and many other host countries.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 12:33:56 +0000
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