This archive report was first published on 25 June 2021.
On June 24, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga shared a video on Twitter detailing his journey to entrepreneurship. He revealed that it all began when a friend approached him about a businessman selling manufacturing equipment at a throwaway price.
The businessman, who had fled Uganda under the late Iddi Amin's regime, was seeking to escape to the UK. Odinga met the Indian businessman, who asked for Sh12,000 for the equipment, which included rolling machines, welding machines, and sheet metal cutting machines.
“The entire machinery was being sold at Sh12,000, which I didn’t have, my salary was only Sh2,000, so I sold my car to raise the cash and that is how I started,” Odinga said.
At the time, Odinga was driving a left-handed Opel made in Germany. He rented a go-down in Industrial Area on Kingston Road, now known as Kampala Road, and started manufacturing casements, windows, steel doors, and other items.
After a white investor from Agip Oil Company revealed to him that they had a shortage of gas cylinders and were searching for local firms to make them, Odinga began manufacturing gas cylinders. He had experience working at a cylinder manufacturing company in Germany and obtained samples from Agip, retooled, and started producing gas cylinders.
One of his clients from Germany advised Odinga to take up a loan to scale up his manufacturing plant. He was taken to the Kenya Industrial Estate under ICDC, which marked the beginning of his expansion.
Today, his wife Ida Odinga runs the firm as its managing director, according to the company’s website. German-trained Engineer Israel Agina is a Co-managing director at the firm, and Oburu Odinga, Raila’s brother, serves as the chairman.
