James Orengo whose full name is James Aggrey Bob Orengo, is a Kenyan politician and lawyer, who is a well known human rights activist and current senator for Siaya County. James Orengo is also among the few Kenyan lawyers who have attained the professional grade of Senior counsel in the legal field, a title that he earned under former president Kibaki.
James Orengo was elected as an MP for Ugenya Constituency under KANU party in a by-election in 1980, making him the youngest Member of Parliament in Kenya at the age of 29. In 1992, James Orengo was elected as a member of parliament for Ugenya constituency and served until 2002 since he was elected again in 1997. He vied for the presidency and lost in 2002. He joined the Orange Democratic Movement party in 2005, teaming up with Hon. Raila Odinga after a significant stand-off between the two following a fallout from 2002. He vied for the position of Ugenya MP in 2007, which he won, enabling him to serve in that capacity till 2013. James was appointed as a Minister of Lands from 2008 to 2013. Orengo was elected and has served in the Senate of Kenya since 2013 as senator for Siaya County.
He won a case at the supreme court that nullified the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta on 1st September, 2017.
Age
He was born on February 22nd, 1951, Ugenya constituency, Siaya County
Education
Orengo attended Ambira Primary School in 1958, where he finished his primary education and joined the Alliance High School in January 1965. He finished form four education in 1970 and joined the University of Nairobi to study law in 1971, where he became the university president. He graduated from the University of Nairobi with Bachelor of Laws in 1974 and later enrolled at the prestigious Kenya School of Law, and subsequently passed his bar examination and hence admitted into the Kenya legal Council.
Wife
He got married to lawyer Betty Murungi and the two have children.
Family
He is son to Apolo Stefano Olunga Orengo and Josfina Atieno Olunga Orengo. He has brothers namely Owino Orengo, Omondi Orengo, Okoth Orengo and Mary Awuor (Sister). His children include Lavender Orengo, Steven Orengo, Lynette Orengo, Micheal Orengo, Zeni Orengo, Bob Orengo and Josephine Orengo
Political Career
In 1980, he was elected as an MP for Ugenya Constituency under KANU party in a by-election. Orengo became the youngest Member Parliament, at the age of 29. In December, 1992, he won election as an MP under FORD-Kenya ticket. Orengo was re-elected in December 1997 under Ford-Kenya ticket but lost his seat in 2002 general elections when he contested for the Presidency under Social Democratic Party ticket. In 2002, he ran for the presidency under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but finished fourth with just 0.4% of the votes. As many SDP’s leading figures had joined the NARC coalition since Orengo’s party lost all of its parliamentary places.
Orengo was still the SDP’s chairman as of 2007, where the party supported Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) at the 2007 general elections. In the 2007 elections he won the Ugenya Parliamentary seat under an ODM ticket. Orengo had been out of parliament since 2002 elections after losing the seat to Archbishop Stephen Ondiek. He served as one of four spokesmen for the ODM in its attempts to settle its dispute with the Party of National Unity following the disputed presidential elections in Kenya in 2007, during the post-election crisis. He was sworn in as a Minister for Lands in the new Coalition Government formed by the National Accord Act of 2008.
James Orengo revealed the sale of the Grand Regency hotel at Ksh 2.7 billion. James announced the transfer of ownership from the CBK to the new Libyan owners had taken place under the direction of the finance minister, Amos Kimunya. In 2013, he was sworn in as the senator for Siaya County was re-elected 2017. Orengo was chosen by his party leader Raila Amollo Odinga to replace Moses Wetangula as the minority leader in the Kenyan Senate in 2018. He was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga as part of the task force team to implement Building Bridge Initiative (BBI) in 2019.
