{"id":131580,"date":"2026-02-20T10:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mama-ida-odingas-unep-vetting-a-breeze-as-mps-laud-her-preparedness-and-vision\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:02:47","slug":"mama-ida-odingas-unep-vetting-a-breeze-as-mps-laud-her-preparedness-and-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mama-ida-odingas-unep-vetting-a-breeze-as-mps-laud-her-preparedness-and-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Mama Ida Odinga\u2019s UNEP Vetting a Breeze as MPs Laud Her Preparedness and Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 20 \u2013 Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga\u2019s wife, Ida Odinga, had an easy sail during her vetting session before MPs \u00a0as she appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ida was appearing for vetting following her nomination as Kenya\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).<\/p>\n

The house team \u00a0led by Nelson Koech, took barely 40 minutes, with some lawmakers focused more on issuing congratulatory messages than asking substantive questions. This prompted the committee chair to intervene.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like \u00a0and I have to caution members \u00a0it is a vetting exercise, and you will have an opportunity as a committee to do your congratulatory messages later if you do approve. For this point, let\u2019s restrict ourselves to the vetting process,\u201d Koech directed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk the question. Mama Aida can take any question. She\u2019s prepared and well-versed with all your questions. I think at this point, let\u2019s just focus on asking the questions that we came to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The directive came minutes after National Assembly Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo declined to put questions to Ida Odinga, saying she would not subject the former Prime Minister\u2019s spouse to what she termed a \u201cpolitical spectacle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odhiambo, who represents Suba North and sits on the same committee, used her time to defend Mama Ida\u2019s record, describing her as \u201ca woman of integrity, resilience and unquestionable commitment to public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not ask Mama Ida any question. Her track record speaks for itself. She has served this country diligently, particularly in education and women empowerment. I do not wish to reduce her lifetime of service to a checklist,\u201d Odhiambo said.<\/p>\n

The seasoned lawmaker also emphasized that public service should not be diminished by partisan politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must be careful not to turn this process into a trial by politics. Leadership is about service, and she has demonstrated that over decades,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Kiambu Woman Representative Anne Wamuratha also praised Mama Ida before posing questions on how she intends to promote international cooperation on environmental issues, particularly in line with the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I would also first congratulate Mama on your appointment at this position. The other thing is that you came in very prepared, as the local Kenyans would say, \u2018umetuuzia uoga\u2019 by the way you presented yourself, and we really want to appreciate you and your appointment,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Other committee members focused on how Mama Ida plans to integrate Kenya\u2019s socio-economic priorities with UNEP\u2019s environmental mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow will you promote an integrated approach that aligns environmental diplomacy with Kenya\u2019s socio-economic development priorities and sustainable development goals, SDGs?\u201d posed Baringo Central MP Joshua Kandie.<\/p>\n

\u201cUN is facing a serious crisis at the moment. And as a country which hosts the only United Nations agency dealing with environment in the global south, what actions would you take, and what kind of advocacy would you bring to your job to reverse this decline in the United Nations and to increase the resources?\u201d posed Kamkunji MP Yussuf Mohammed.<\/p>\n

Mama Ida highlighted her ability to mobilize both local and international resources, emphasizing that she would leverage her social capital and networks to ensure Kenya plays a strong role in global environmental governance.<\/p>\n

The former Prime Minister\u2019s wife also revealed that her personal net worth is Sh500 million, clarifying that this does not include the wider Odinga family\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an interesting question. There are things that belong to me Ida and there are things that belong to the Odinga family but my net worth is about Sh500 million,\u201d she told the committee.<\/p>\n

She also praised her late husband Raila Odinga, saying he played a huge role in the person she is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank President Ruto for the trust he has placed in me by nominating me to serve our nation in this important global diplomatic role,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Further, Mama Ida said that if approved by Parliament, she will do her best to prevent environmental destruction and pursue specific environmental priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf approved, I intend to do my level best to help stop the destruction of our planet. I will pursue every specific and set priorities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

President William Ruto nominated Mama Ida to serve as Kenya\u2019s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNEP on January 23.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 20 \u2013 Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga\u2019s wife, Ida Odinga, had an easy sail during her vetting session before MPs \u00a0as she appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations. Ida was appearing for vetting following her nomination as Kenya\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}