Odinga, Oginga [key], 1911–94, Kenyan political leader. A Luo, he was active in the Kenyan independence movement and later became (1960) vice president of the Kenya African National Union (KANU). After Kenya became a republic in 1964, Odinga served as vice president. He came into increasing conflict with President Jomo Kenyatta, however, and in 1966 was ousted as KANU vice president. He later resigned as Kenya's vice president and headed an opposition political party, the Kenya People's Union. Arrested after antigovernment rioting in 1969 and accused of seeking Soviet aid, he was finally released in 1971 as part of Kenyatta's attempt to appease the Luo. Shortly afterward he rejoined KANU, but in 1982, under President Daniel arap Moi, he again sought to form an opposition party, but Kenya became a one-party country. Odinga later helped form (1991) the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy, and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1992.
See his autobiography (1967).
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