Raychelle Omamo

Raychelle Awuor Omamo (born July 1962) is a Kenyan lawyer and diplomat and former Cabinet Minister. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. From 2020 to 2022, she was the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister.

Ambassador Raychelle Omamo
Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office 14 January 2020 – 27 October 2022
President	Uhuru Kenyatta
Preceded by	Monica Juma
Succeeded by	Alfred Mutua
Cabinet Secretary for Defence
In office 15 May 2013 – 14 January 2020
President	Uhuru Kenyatta
Preceded by	Mohamed Yusuf Haji
Succeeded by	Monica Juma
Personal details
Born	(1962-07-06) 6 July 1962 (age 63)[citation needed] Bondo, Central Nyanza, Kenya Colony
Parent	William Odongo Omamo (father)
Alma mater	University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
Profession	Advocate
Religion	Christian

Early life and education

Omamo is a daughter to the late cabinet minister William Odongo Omamo. She studied law at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

Early career

Omamo began her career as a lawyer in private practice and was the first female Chairperson of Law Society of Kenya from 2001 to 2003 after serving as a Council member. She was conferred with the rank and privilege of Senior Counsel in 2012. She was a member of the Task Force on the Establishment of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission for Kenya.^[1]

Omamo was Kenya's first female ambassador to France with accreditation to Spain, Portugal, The Holy See and Serbia as well as the Permanent Delegate of the Kenya to UNESCO.

Political career

Omamo served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs.^[2] Previously, she served as the Cabinet Secretary for Defence for 7 years in the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, the first female in the country to hold the post.^[3][4] She also served as the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Services in 2014.

In 2022, Omamo was nominated as Kenya's candidate to succeed Gilbert Houngbo as president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);^[5] she ultimately lost out against Alvaro Lario.^[6]

Podcast

Omamo's podcast - The Power Panel Podcast - was launched in 2024 under the umbrella of her organization Bird Song Africa Productions Limited.

Bird Song Africa Productions Limited is dedicated to the amplification of the voices of African women trail-blazers to share, inspire and encourage the next generation of African women leaders.

Other activities

• Munich Security Conference, Member of the Advisory Council (since 2023)^[7]
• Amref Flying Doctors, Member of the Board of Directors^[8]