Wilson Ndolo Ayah was a Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

n politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1990 - 1993 as Kenya returned to multi-party system of governance. Ndolo Ayah served in the government of Daniel Arap Moi

Daniel arap Moi

Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...

 as minister from 18 August 1987 when he was first appointed Minister for Research Science and Technology.

Early life and education

Ndolo Ayah was born in Kisumu

Kisumu

Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...

, Kenya and educated at Maseno School

Maseno School

Maseno School is one of the oldest schools in Kenya. It was established in 1906 by the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society as a school for the children of African chiefs. The first administrator of the school was Rev...

, Makerere University

Makerere University

Makerere University , Uganda's largest and second-oldest higher institution of learning, , was first established as a technical school in 1922. In 1963 it became the University of East Africa, offering courses leading to general degrees from the University of London...

 and University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 graduating with a MSc in rural sociology

Rural sociology

Rural sociology is a field of sociology associated with the study of social life in non-metropolitan areas. It is the scientific study of social arrangements and behaviour amongst people distanced from points of concentrated population or economic activity...

.

Political life

He was first elected to parliament in the general elections of December 1969 as MP Kisumu Rural Constituency

Kisumu Rural Constituency

Kisumu Rural Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of three constituencies of Kisumu District. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. The constituency has eight wards, all of which elect councillors for Kisumu County Council.The constituency was previously...

. He lost in 1974, but was elected MP in the neighbouring Kisumu Town Constituency in 1983. For the 1988 elections he switched constituencies with the late Dr Robert Ouko, becoming once again MP for Kisumu Rural until 1992. He served as a nominated member of parliament from 1992-1997 when he retired from elective politics.

He served as the first chairman of Safaricom

Safaricom

Safaricom, Ltd is a leading mobile network operator in Kenya. It was formed in 1997 as a fully owned subsidiary of Telkom Kenya. In May 2000, Vodafone group Plc of the United Kingdom, the world's largest telecommunication company, acquired a 40% stake and management responsibility for the...

ltd. from start up to the largest company in East Africa.