Mueller Quoted in NYT Article on Kenya’s Ralia Odinga
Susanne D. Mueller, research affiliate at Boston University’s African Studies Center (ASC) was quoted in a New York Times report titled “How Raila Odinga Symbolized the Good and Bad of Kenyan Politics.” Covering the death of Ralia Odinga, the article reiterated his influential leadership in Kenya, his Luo ethnicity and the role it played in his political career, and his powerful ability to stand against the status quo.
Like several famous personalities, including Lupita Nyong’o, Tom Mboya, and Barack Obama Sr., Ralia was a Luo — something which cost him the presidential election in 2007. The author mentions how the Luo community was often othered by Kenya’s powerful ethnic groups, and how throughout his career, Ralia was forced to battle an exclusionary system.
“The Luo were constantly boxed out of political power,” said Susanne D. Mueller.
The report also described him as “the reliable counterweight to the tendency in African politics to drift into authoritarianism.” Ralia often challenged executive overreach and rallied for minorities. At times, he was the only voice of dissent in the room, ensuring balance in Kenyan politics.
To read the full report, click here.
Susanne D. Mueller is a Research Affiliate at Boston University’s African Studies Center. She was an assistant professor at the University of Nairobi and also taught at Princeton University while holding a faculty appointment at its Center for International Studies. Additionally, she has worked for the United Nations, its food agencies, and the World Bank on economic, agricultural and political development in most of the countries of Eastern and Southern Africa, Moldova, Ukraine, India and the Maldives, while based in Kenya, Tanzania, the UK, and the U.S.