Raphael Tuju

Raphael Tuju (born 30 March 1959) is a Kenyan politician.

When the National Rainbow Coalition took power in 2003, Tuju became information minister. By 2005 he had become well-known for his feud with roads minister Raila Odinga. He was believed to be in danger of losing his political career, but on December 8, 2005, he became foreign minister in a cabinet reshuffle. Tuju was elected as a Member of Parliament from Rarieda constituency in the December 2002 parliamentary election. He has a master's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester.

Prior to the 2005 referendum vote in Kenya, Tuju formed the Progressive People's Party (PPP) with a view to swaying votes away from the "orange No campaign". He joined Narc through the LDP. This was seen as an act of betrayal by his Rarieda constituents and by extension the Luo Nyanza populace of which he was a member.

During plenary discussions at the 29th Assilah Cultural Festival at the city of Asillah in Morocco, under the theme: Africa and Europe; Challenges and Obligations of each other held on 5th August 2007, Kenya Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Raphael Tuju, stole the lime light at the forum with his straight talk deriding European governments for bad policies that inhibited trade with Africa [3] . He accused European regimes of ramming punitive policies down the throats of poor African nations. He told Europe to either put up with Africa or continue applying, in futility, "short term and desperate measures," like, tongue-in-cheek, "erecting a huge wall like the famous China masterpiece or reinforcing border patrols to keep away intruding African immigrants" [3] . Tuju delved into a raft of unjust tariff and non-tariff barriers that would stifle the growth of Africa and widen the resource gap with Europe. He particularly expressed displeasure at the recent move by some EU countries to impose stiff regulations on Kenya that were bound to stifle the country’s vibrant horticulture industry [3] . Kenya is the biggest exporter of flowers, accounting for 26 per cent of the world’s market. The draconian carbon miles policy and another requirement for fumigation of Kenya’s flower exports, said Tuju, were discriminatory and aimed at unfairly curtailing the dominance of the country’s products. On the other hand, Tuju argued the fumigation of Kenya’s flowers was calculated to reduce their shelf life and hence cheapen them at the world market. He also took issue with discriminatory sports policies such as the one imposed on the country’s athletes by the United States, limiting the number of entrants in a competition [3] .

Tuju, running as a candidate of Kibaki's Party of National Unity, lost his seat in the December 2007 parliamentary election. He was replaced as Foreign Minister by Moses Wetangula in the Cabinet named by Kibaki on January 8 2008. [ [http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980146&cid=4 "Kalonzo VP in Kibaki’s new Cabinet"] , "The Standard" (Kenya), January 9, 2008.]

Tuju also attended the Starehe Boys Centre and School.

References

External links

# [http://www.parliament.go.ke/MPs/members_tuju_r.php Kenyan Parliament Member Profile for Raphael Tuju]
# [http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/kenya-e.pdf Transcript of Tuju's address of the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2006]
# [http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143972446 Standard Newspaper article outlining Tuju's appeal to the EU to stop measures stifling trade with Africa, Kenya 6 August 2007]