George Philip Ochola

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George Philip Ochola
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Born
Ochola Ogaye Mak'Anyengo

1930
Died1990(1990-00-00) (aged 59–60)
NationalityKenyan
CitizenshipKenya
EducationDiploma in International Relations
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Occupation
  • Trade unionist
  • Member of Parliament for Ndhiwa
Political partyNairobi Peoples Convention Party

Ochola Ogaye Mak’Anyengo (George Philip Ochola) (1930-1990) was a Kenyan trade unionist and Member of Parliament for Ndhiwa, South Nyanza, Kenya.[1] He was involved in the fight for Kenya's independence as one of the leaders of the Nairobi Peoples Convention Party (NCPC), a pre-independence African political party started by Tom Mboya. [2] He was the founder and first secretary general of the Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union (1956-1969). As one of the beneficiaries of the Mboya-Kennedy airlifts in 1961, he obtained a diploma in International Relations from the University of Chicago. [3] This was supported by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations. [4] While in Chicago, he remained active in civil rights issues. He led a funeral march to honour Patrice Lumumba, the Congolese independence leader, following his assassination in January 1961. [5] He also advocated for the recognition of the Organisation of African Unity by the United States government. [6] After completing his studies, he returned to Kenya to fill several offices in trade union leadership and also ventured into open politics. He was a founding member of the Kenya People’s Union (K.P.U.), a left leaning opposition party.[7]

On the 25th of February 1965, Pio Gama Pinto, a nominated member of parliament and trade unionist was assassinated.[8] Ochola Mak'Anyengo was briefly arrested following accusations that he had hired men to frighten Pinto ostensibly because Pinto was his trade-union rival. One of these men ended up assassinating Pinto. These charges were dropped when one of the accused assassins denied having met Mak'Anyengo. [9] [10] [11]

In August 1966 Ochola Mak'Anyengo was arrested together with other leaders of the K.P.U. and detained without trial for several years. [12] [13] Following his release, he eventually returned to politics, becoming a Member of Parliament for Ndhiwa Constituency in 1983. During this period he was the Assistant Minister for Health, Assistant-minister for Culture and Social Services and Assistant-minister for foreign affairs. He passed away in 1990 while in office. [14]

References

  1. Makers of a nation. Ochola Mak'Anyengo the men and women in Kenya's history. DVD, Video Disc. A Nation Media Group/Kenya History & Biographies Co. Ltd. co-production ; written, produced and directed by Hilary Ng'weno. Available From: https://iucat.iu.edu/iub/13727400
  2. Kenya, the National Epic: From the Pages of Drum Magazine By Garth Bundeh and James R. A. Bailey East African Publishers, 1993
  3. Airlift to America: How Barack Obama, Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya, and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours by Tom Shachtman. St. Martin's Press (September 15, 2009)
  4. “African Unionist gets ‘Liberal Education’ in US” The Minneapolis Star (Minneapolis Minnesota), Tuesday, August 22, 1961, page 7
  5. “Funeral March Held Sunday for Lumumba”. The Daily Chronicle (De Kalb, Illinois) Monday, March 13, 1961 page 10
  6. “Kenyan Warns Johnson must see Africans” Chicago Tribune (Chicago Illinois), Sunday September 27th, 1964. Page 2
  7. “Five Opposition Leaders Seized by Kenya Police” Pasadena Independent (Pasadena, California) Fri Aug 5 1966. Page 1
  8. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001298979/pinto-untold-life-story-of-first-unsung-martyr
  9. Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission Final Report Volume 1 (2013) http://www.tjrckenya.org/index.php?option=comcontent&view=article&id=573&itemid=238
  10. Pio Gama Pinto: Kenya's Unsung Martyr. 1927-1965 By Shiraz Durrani. Vita Books, October 2018
  11. “Kenya: How Pinto Murder Was Plotted . . . And Kisilu Framed” Allafrica.com stories June 19th 2000 https://allafrica.com/stories/200006190052.html
  12. Amnesty International Annual Report 1973-1974. Available from: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL100011974ENGLISH.PDF
  13. "500 TU members in overseas prisons" The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Monday, Nov 16, 1970, page 20
  14. Western-Educated Elites in Kenya, 1900-1963: The African American Factor By Jim C. Harper. Routledge; 1 edition (September 10, 2012)

External links

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