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ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga recently came out to defend his academic qualifications following an open inquiry by his greatest opponent DP William Ruto. Other politicians in the heat of a bachelor’s degree challenge are super senator Johnson Sakaja and Jimmy Wanjigi. Meanwhile, all eyes are scrutinizing Raila Odinga educational background.

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IEBC requirements for presidential candidates, senators, and governors include a degree from a recognized university. It is interesting to learn that most senior government officers cannot validate their college certificates.

Raila Odinga educational background

Azimio la Umoja Coalition Party flag bearer Raila Odinga is a highly learned veteran politician.

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Even so, he prefers keeping his academic excellence to himself. Where did Raila Odinga study?

Raila’s primary and high school studies in Kenya

Born on January 7, 1945, at an Anglican Church Missionary Society Hospital in Maseno, Raila would attend prestigious institutions around the world.

• READ ALSO: Which Primary School Did Raila Odinga Attend?

The ODM kingpin started schooling at Kisumu Union Primary School in the vicinity of Kisumu City.

Upon clearing his O-Levels, Raila enrolled at Maranda High School for his A-Levels. In 1962, he cleared secondary school education aged 17 years.

Impressed by the good grades of his son, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga transferred Raila to German for further studies.  

Former PM Raila Odinga studying in Germany

The former prime minister of Kenya recalls spending a couple of years at Herder Institution. It is here he was absorbed into the German language and culture.

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Soon after, he became part of the philological faculty at the University of Leipzig in East Germany.

Raila Odinga Leipzig University qualifications

Raila was recently listed among the top 100 most notable alumni of Leipzig University

The honorary recognition comes after five decades of studying philosophy at a world-class university.

Raila Odinga Technical University of Magdeburg

In 1965, Raila landed a scholarship into Technische Hochschule Technical College of Magdeburg now a part of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg in the German Democratic Republic.

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In 1970, Raila Odinga graduated with a Diplom which is the equivalent of a Masters’ Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Welding.

Upon clearing school, Raila moved back to Kenya within the same year.

A year later, he launched a Liquid Petroleum Gas Cylinders company called Standard Processing Equipment Construction & Erection limited.

He later renamed it the East African Spectre; which is operational in Kenya to this day.

Raila Odinga Lecturer University of Nairobi

Apart from business, Raila lectured at the University of Nairobi in the Department of Engineering.

• READ ALSO: List of Raila Odinga Classmates?

It is at UoN that Raila met and married his love life Ida Anyango odinga in the early 70s. The loyal couple resides in the leafy Karen Estate within Nairobi City.

List of honorary degrees and awards

Reputable sources say he is a PhD degree holder from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology.

On top of that, he has bagged the following 3 honours;

• 2008: Doctor of Laws from the University of Nairobi in Kenya
• 2012: Honorary degree from Florida A&M University in the USA
• 2012: Doctorate of Leadership in Social Development from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Malaysia

Most importantly, Raila takes credit for multi-party democracy and the Constitution of 2010 that paved the way for devolution in Kenya.

• READ ALSO: Raila Odinga Career History – Engineer?

Raila Odinga educational background with exceeding merits to the disadvantage of his political critics. A valid engineering degree wraps it all with a list of Raila Odinga classmates missing.