{{Short description|Kenyan politician}} {{Use British English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Joshua Orwa Ojode | image = | image_size = 220px | office = Office of the president, Kenya | president = Mwai Kibaki | term_start = 1994 | term_end = 10 June 2012 | predecessor = Hon. Peter Gatirau Munya | successor = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1958|12|29}} | birth_place = Ndhiwa Constituency | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2012|06|10|1958|12|29}} | death_place = Kibiku area, Ngong in Nairobi<ref name="saitoti">{{cite web|title=Saitoti, Ojode feared dead in Police chopper crash|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Saitoti+Ojode+killed+in+Police+chopper+crash/-/1056/1424382/-/4kdoyi/-/index.html|publisher=Nation Media Group|access-date=10 June 2012|date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> | party = Orange Democratic Movement | birth_name = | spouse = Mary Ojode<ref>{{cite web|last=ALLAN KISIA and MOSES NJAGIH|title=Saitoti, Ojode family and friends mourn their passing|url=http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000059627&story_title=Saitoti,-Ojode-family-and-friends-mourn-their-passing|publisher=Standard Group Limited|access-date=11 June 2012|date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> | relations = | children = Andy Ojode | alma_mater = Maranda High School <br />Ramapo College | occupation = Politician | profession = | net worth = | cabinet = Assistant Minister of Provincial administration and Internal Security | committees = | portfolio = | height = | signature = | website = }} '''Joshua Orwa Ojode''' (29 December 1958 – 10 June 2012) was a Kenyan politician. He was first appointed to parliament on June 28, 1994 to represent the Ndhiwa Constituency for the National Development party.<ref name="Kenya Gazette">{{cite book|title=Kenya Gazette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KQmcZiEBBMC|access-date=11 June 2012|date=1 July 1994}}</ref> In 2007 he joined the Orange Democratic Movement. He served as assistant minister for provincial administration and internal security.<ref>[http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/government/mpslist.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513181126/http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/government/mpslist.htm |date=2009-05-13 }}. Parliament of Kenya. Accessed 11 June 2012.</ref>
==Early life== Ojode attended Ratanga primary school between 1966-1972 and Maranda School from 1973 to 1976.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joshua Ojode|url=http://info.mzalendo.com/person/joshua-ojode/#experience|publisher=Mzalendo|access-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> He acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and International Studies from Ramapo College of New Jersey (1988-1991) after successfully serving as an assistant water bailiff at the ministry of water between 1978-1981. Ojode worked at Nile Investments Central Africa Limited (1983-1986) and PolyPipes Limited (1986-1987) as marketing manager.<ref name="ref">{{cite web|title=Joshua Orwa Ojode (Kenya)|url=http://www.afdevinfo.com/htmlreports/peo/peo_44865.html|publisher=AfDevInfo|access-date=11 June 2012|date=April 23, 2008}}</ref> He occasionally taught at Aquinas High School.
==Political career== He entered politics in 1994 as a member of parliament for the Ndhiwa Constituency.<ref name="ref"/> He was re-elected during the 1997 elections and appointed as Assistant Minister for education, science & technology in the year 2000. In 2001, while he serving as assistant minister of education, science & technology, he tabled an alternative bill to what the government of Kenya had presented. The 2001 Petroleum Amendment bill that he drafted, proposed a regulatory authority but with some differences.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Petroleum Sub-Sector : Debating the Appropriate Policy Framework|journal=The Point: Bulletin of the Institute of Economic Affairs|date=April 2001|issue=44|pages=1, 5|url=http://www.ieakenya.or.ke/documents/The%20Point%2044.pdf|access-date=11 June 2012|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227120826/http://www.ieakenya.or.ke/documents/The%20Point%2044.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Death== {{main|2012 Nairobi Eurocopter AS350 crash}} Ojode died on 10 June 2012 in a police helicopter crash in Kenya.<ref>{{cite web|title=Two Kenyan ministers among six killed in chopper crash|url=http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/two-kenyan-ministers-among-six-killed-chopper-crash-110017800.html|access-date=11 June 2012|author=Indo Asian News Service|date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> At the time of his death, Orwa Ojode was a Member of Parliament and a business person. He was a defender of the government of Kenya and had a strict stand on matters concerning security.<ref>{{cite web|title=Saitoti, Ojode feared dead in Police chopper crash|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Saitoti+Ojode+killed+in+Police+chopper+crash/-/1056/1424382/-/4kdoyi/-/index.html|access-date=10 June 2012}}</ref> On his watch Operation ''linda nchi'' (guard the nation) was launched against Al-Shabab in Somalia. On May 11, 2009,<ref>{{cite web|last=Margaret|first=Kalekye|title=Kenyan Ministers killed in helicopter crash|url=http://www.kbc.co.ke/news.asp?nid=76870|publisher=Kenya Broadcasting Corporation|date=June 10, 2012}}</ref> Orwa Ojode had survived a chopper crash with the then Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, RiftValley PC Hassan Noor and several journalists. When Kenya's coalition government was formed in 2008, Ojode was among those who were tipped for ministerial positions. His career derailed when Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party failed to name him a full minister as had been promised.
==References== {{Reflist|2}} {{Current Kenyan MPs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojodeh, Joshua Orwa}} Category:1958 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Category:Orange Democratic Movement politicians Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Kenya Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2012 Category:Ramapo College alumni Category:Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents Category:Alumni of Maranda High School