Robert Ouko
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- For the athlete, see Robert Ouko (athlete).
The Honorable Minister John Robert Ouko (31 March 1931–c. 12 February 1990), commonly known as Robert Ouko, was a Kenyan politician who was foreign minister of Kenya at the time of his death. He was murdered in a case which as of 2005 remains unsolved, but it has been alleged that his death was connected to his investigation of corruption in the Kenyan government.
Robert Ouko served in the government of Kenya from the colonial period through the presidencies of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi. He was a member of the National Assembly for Kisumu and a cabinet minister, rising to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation by 1990.
On the night of 12 February 1990 Ouko disappeared from his farm in Koru near Kisumu. On 16 February the government announced that his body had been found on a nearby hill. The body had been mutilated and burnt and was found with items including a gun, a diesel can and matches. All apart from the diesel can had belonged to Ouko. News of the crime set off riots in Nairobi.
Initial police reports suggested that Ouko had committed suicide but it soon became apparent that Ouko had been tortured and shot before his body was burnt. Public pressure led President Daniel arap Moi to ask British detectives from New Scotland Yard to investigate Ouko's death. In October 1990 Moi appointed a public inquiry into the case chaired by Justice Evans Gicheru. The inquiry was terminated by Moi in November 1991 and did not produce a final report but its proceedings had brought many of the facts of the case to public attention. Several government officials, including energy minister Nicholas Biwott and head of internal security Hezekiah Oyugi, were detained for questioning in relation to the murder but released after two weeks for "lack of evidence". One person was tried for Ouko's murder in 1992 and acquitted, with the crime remaining unsolved.
The investigations suggested that Ouko had been compiling a report on corruption in the Kenyan government and how it had affected his attempts to reopen a molasses plant in his Kisumu constituency. The report was not found after Ouko's disappearance and it was suspected that his murder was an attempt to suppress his findings.
In March 2003 the newly elected government of Mwai Kibaki opened a new investigation into Ouko's death to be conducted by a parliamentary select committee. As of 2005 the inquiry remains open. It has heard evidence from the 1990 British investigation implicating government officials including Biwott, who has denied involvement, and Oyugi, who died in 1992. In March 2005 the inquiry summoned former President Moi to give evidence. [1] [2] [3]
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[edit] Reference
- Cohen, David William & Odhiambo, E. S. Atieno (2004). The Risks of Knowledge: Investigations into the Death of the Hon. Minister John Robert Ouko in Kenya, 1990. Ohio University Press. ISBN 0-8214-1597-2. [4]
