Fredrick Oduya Oprong

Who is Fredrick Oduya Oprong?

Fredrick Oduya Oprong, born in 1936, is a former Kenyan legislator and assistant minister who was awarded the Head of State’s Commendation for his contribution towards national development.

Oprong was among politicians who joined Jaramogi Oginga Odinga to press for the release of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and others from detention before independence. At the independence elections, he was elected MP for the then Busia North Constituency. As a pre-independence trade unionist, Mr Oprong had founded the Kenya Quarry and Mines Workers Union, hence Kenyatta appointed him assistant minister for Labour He later lost his parliamentary seat, only to recapture it in 1992.

In 1993, Oduya Oprong, who was MP for Amagoro Constituency and assistant minister for Economic Planning and National Development, nearly lost his life when he was shot by unknown gunmen. He was rushed to Nairobi Hospital, then transferred to London accompanied by a nurse provided by President Daniel arap Moi and thereafter to a hospital in New York where he regained consciousness after three months.