Raychelle Omamo
Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office
14 January 2020 – 27 October 2022
PresidentUhuru Kenyatta
Preceded byMonica Juma
Succeeded byAlfred Mutua
Cabinet Secretary for Defence
In office
15 May 2013 – 14 January 2020
PresidentUhuru Kenyatta
Preceded byMohamed Yusuf Haji
Succeeded byMonica Juma
Personal details
Born (1962-07-06) July 6, 1962 (age 61)[citation needed]
Bondo, Siaya County
NationalityKenyan
Parent
Alma materUniversity of Kent, Canterbury, UK
ProfessionAdvocate
ReligionChristian

Raychelle Awour Omamo (born July 1962) is a Kenyan lawyer and politician and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. From 2020 to 2022, she was the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister.

Early life and education

Omamo is a daughter to the late cabinet minister William Odongo Omamo. She studied law at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

Early career

Omamo worked as a Senior Counsel and an Advocate of the High Court for 27 years. She was the first female chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya from 2001 to 2003 after serving as a council member from 1996 to 2000 and Kenyan first female ambassador to France, Portugal, The Holy See and Serbia as well as the Permanent Delegate of the Kenya to UNESCO. She was a member of the Task Force on the Establishment of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission for Kenya.[1]

Political career

Omamo served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs.[2] Previously, she served as the Cabinet Secretary for Defence for 7 years in the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, the first female in the country to hold the post.[3][4]

Omamo is currently the Vice-President of the East African Law Society, Kenya’s ambassador and Director at Mo-Consulty Ltd.[5][6][7]

In 2022, Omamo was nominated as Kenya's candidate to succeed Gilbert Houngbo as president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);[8] she ultimately lost out against Alvaro Lario.[9]

Other activities

References

  1. ^ "Profile: Raychelle Omamo". Daily Nation. 25 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Uhuru reshuffles Cabinet - VIDEO". 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Kenya". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  4. ^ Raychelle Omamo (25 April 2013). "Raychelle Omamo CV". Nairobi: Kenya State House. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Hon Raychelle Omamo". AMREF Flying Doctors. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  6. ^ "Ambassador Raychelle Omamo SC, EGH". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  7. ^ "STATEMENT AS DELIVERED BY H.E AMB. RAYCHELLE OMAMO, SC, EGH CABINET SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE BRIEFING ON THE MAINTENANCE OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY: FOLLOW-UP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION 2532 (2020 | Kenya". www.un.int. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. ^ Stanley Ongwae (25 June 2022), Foreign Affairs CS Omamo gunning for first IFAD female president The Standard.
  9. ^ Faith Nyamai and Leonard Onyango (8 July 2022), Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo loses bid to become first Ifad female president Daily Nation.
  10. ^ "Advisory Council - Munich Security Conference". securityconference.org. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  11. ^ Board of Directors Amref Health Africa.


Categories