Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) Managing Director Dr. Raymond Omollo has been appointed by President William Ruto to replace the once powerful Karanja Kibicho.
The appointment of Raymond Omollo came as a surprise since nobody expected the head of state to appoint the little-known man from South Nyanza to that very powerful and crucial docket.
During president Uhuru’s reign, the Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government Karanja Kibicho dictated the show. Put in another way, Kibicho was a deepstate on his own and Raymond Omollo will definitely be one of the most powerful PSs in the Kenya Kwanza government.
Well, Dr. Raymond Omollo is a trained bio-statistician who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from the Nairobi University in 2002. Later, he proceeded to the University of Washington and obtained a certificate in Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
Raymond Omollo worked as a data manager at the Nairobi University until 2006. Thereafter, he proceeded to be the Head of the Data Centre and Statistician at the Data for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi).
The newly appointed PS Omollo was appointed to LBDA by the then East African Community Cabinet Secretary Aden Mohamed in 2019, replacing Dr Evans Atera who served in an acting capacity.
At some point, his leadership at LBDA was put to test after one Alfred Buora Ng’onga sued them over a piece of land. He was even threatened with a jail term for court contempt.
“That the respondent has stated clearly that they are not afraid of the court orders and have termed the same as mere papers, a sham, a hogwash and a waste of time that could not warrant them whatsoever to have a second bite of the cherry,” read part of the ruling.
Raymond Omollo will become one of the few Luos to hold the powerful position in the office of the president under the New Constitution.
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