Peter Anyang' Nyong'o (born 10 October 1943), politically known as Anyang' Nyong'o, is a Kenyan politician and author who is the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Kisumu County Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former districts of Kenya, administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquart ...

. He is a former Secretary-General of

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

(the current Secretary-General is Edwin Sifuna). Professor Nyong'o was the acting party leader from March 11 until late May 2009 when

Raila Odinga Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He was the Member of Parliament (Kenya), Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata Constituency from 1992 to 2013 and has ...

was in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and was elected to the

National Assembly of Kenya The National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya (formerly House of Representatives) is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya. Between 1966 and 2013, it served as a unicameral house. In 2013 ( 11th Parliament), it became the lower ...

in the December 2007 parliamentary election, representing the

Kisumu Rural Constituency Kisumu Rural Constituency is a former Constituencies of Kenya, electoral constituency in Kenya. It was one of three constituencies of Kisumu District. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. The constituency had eight wards, all of ...

. He was the Minister for Medical Services and previously the Minister for Planning & National Development. He previously served as the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of Kisumu from 2013 to 2017.

Early life and education

Nyong'o was born in Ratta,

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. He completed his undergraduate studies at Uganda's

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

, where he was awarded a

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He Served as Guild president of Makerere in 1969/70. He thereafter proceeded to his graduate and postgraduate studies at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he obtained an MA and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in political science in 1977.

Career

Nyong'o took teaching positions at the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

, where he was a professor of

and a visiting professor in universities in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. Here, he served until 1987, before taking up the position of head of programs at the African Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Kenyan Senate representing

from March 4, 2013 to August 8, 2017 having been elected on an ODM (Orange Democratic Movement) Party ticket. He is a former Member of Parliament for

Kisumu Rural constituency Kisumu Rural Constituency is a former Constituencies of Kenya, electoral constituency in Kenya. It was one of three constituencies of Kisumu District. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. The constituency had eight wards, all of ...

, having been elected on a NARC ticket in the December 2002. His political career dates back to 1992, when he was first elected to parliament. He served as a nominated MP from 1998 to 2002. From 2003 to 2005, Nyong'o served as the Minister for Planning and National Development, and from 2008 to 2013 he was the Minister for Medical Services. Nyong'o is credited for actively engaging in the movement for Kenya's second liberation during the previous KANU regime. For his contribution to scholarship and democratization, Nyong'o received a German-African Award in 1995. From October to December 2013, Nyong'o was a Brundtland Senior Leadership Fellow at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

. In this role, he taught a course in the Department of Global Health and Population titled "Leadership Development in Global Health and Policy-Making in Kenya: The Case of Four Parastatals." In 2023,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

appointed Nyong’o to his Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments, co-chaired by Pilar Cancela Rodríguez and Fatimatou Abdel Malick.

Personal life

His children are

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winning actress Lupita Nyong'o, Fiona Nyong'o, Esperanza Nyong'o, Zawadi Nyong'o, and Peter Nyong'o, who plays soccer as a goalkeeper.

References

External links

Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyongo, Anyang Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Living people Members of the Senate of Kenya Orange Democratic Movement politicians Government ministers of Kenya Makerere University alumni University of Chicago alumni Kenyan Luo people 1945 births Kenyan Luo politicians People from Kisumu County Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences