Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has credited his political success to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga whom he says picked him from oblivion and made him a political heavyweight.
Speaking during an Iftar dinner organized by Raila in Upperhill, Nairobi on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Kingi heaped praises on the former Premier, noting that he has always sacrificed himself for the benefit of the people.
“It’s very refreshing once again to sit by the side of Baba (Raila Odinga) and just tap his wisdom. Baba your love for the people is unparalleled in this country,” Kingi observed.
“You have for so many years lived your life for others. I don’t remember any moment since I joined politics as a young boy, seeing you living for yourself. You’ve always lived for others and even today gathering is a testimony that you care about people.”
Kingi who became speaker of the Senate in 2022 following a coalition agreement between his Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) Party, credited his political journey to Raila, who he said had guided him since he joined politics in 2007.
Raila stood with me
“For the many years I have worked with Raila, he doesn’t care about how heavy or light your name is. If he sees potential in you, he will pick you and make you a star. I am a living testimony. I am from a family that is not political I was the first politician in our family,” Kingi stated.
“I had no political shoulder to lean on, I had nobody I could call a political godfather but when I first entered politics in 2007, Raila Odinga saw potential in me, held my hand, made me a Cabinet minister and stood with me and today I’m a star because I have walked through Baba’s hands.”
Kingi’s political journey
Born in 1970 as the seventh child of his mother, Kingi schooled locally in the former Kilifi District before joining Alliance High School and proceeding to study law at the University of Nairobi.
He briefly practised law in Mombasa before joining politics in 2007, when he joined the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party and was elected as Magarini Member of Parliament.
During the grand coalition government of Raila and the late president Mwai Kibaki, Kingi was made the Minister for the East African Community before being shuffled to the Ministry of Fisheries.
With the onset of devolution, Kingi became the first Governor of Kilifi County, where he served for two terms under the ODM party ticket before forming his own PAA party.
He was sworn in as the Senate speaker in 2022 after PAA entered into a coalition agreement with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party.
