Henry Odera Oruka (1 June 1944, Siaya County – 9 December 1995, Nairobi) was a Kenyan philosopher who is best known for "Sage Philosophy". It was a project started in the 1970s in an attempt to preserve the knowledge of the indigenous thinkers in traditional African communities.
Life and work
Henry Odera Oruka was born on 1 June 1944 in Masiro-Nyang'ungu, Ugenya, Siaya County . After his advanced level studies in Kenya, he went to Uppsala University in Sweden. There he registered for a BSc programme in the Faculty of Mathematics–Natural Science and studied meteorology, Geography, and Geodesy. He later added Philosophy to his studies because of his interest in the subject. Upon graduating in Science and Philosophy (a year ahead of his class), he opted to drop science and continue with his studies in philosophy. He moved to Wayne State University in the United States of America for his master's degree where he completed his studies and eventually obtained a PhD. His dissertation on the theme of "Freedom" (written in 1970) was later refined and published as Punishment and Terrorism in Africa in 1976. From October 1970 until his death on 9 December 1995, he taught philosophy at the University of Nairobi.
The majority and dominant staff at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies which had been launched in 1969 at the University of Nairobi were priests and lay theologians. They had little time for "African Philosophy" as they harbored doubts about the ability of Africans to think logically. After years of a sustained and bitter struggle spearheaded by Odera Oruka, Philosophy was separated from Religion at the university in July 1980 and he was appointed the Founder-Chairman of the new Department of Philosophy. Unfortunately for the department, the death of Odera Oruka was accompanied with a marked decline in the international profile of Philosophy at the University of Nairobi. The discipline that Odera Oruka worked so hard to separate from Religion has since been merged with Religion once again.
Odera Oruka was the founder-president of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK); the founding-director of the International Institute of Environmental Studies(IIES), Nairobi; a member of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS); the secretary-general of African Futures Studies Association (AFSA); the secretary-general of the Afro-Asian Philosophical Association (AAPA); vice-president of the Inter-African Council of Philosophy (IACP); a member of the executive committee of both the Federation International de societe philosophique (FISP) and World Futures Studies Federation. On June 3, 1993, he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities from Uppsala University.
Personal life
Odera Oruka was married twice. His first wife, the late Millicent Achien'g, bore him three children: Owiso Odera (the deceased Hollywood actor), Sheila Odera (Veteran Actress/Model and Accountant), and Sharon Odera(deceased). He had two children with his second wife, Olivia Phoebe Ayoma, namely Ronnie Omuga and Peter Oruka Odera (an International relations practitioner).
Basic philosophical beliefs
Three philosophical approaches can be seen in Oruka's works:
Socio-economic deprivation
Poverty and hunger in Africa are the greatest constraints to mental development and creativity. But, rather than complaining about imperialism, colonialism, foreign cultural domination etc., the remedy should be looked for by a process of self-national examination and critique.
Cultural racial mythology
The fight against cultural and racial mythologies was one of his main topics. He differentiated two types of myths: Myths about the level of civilisation and nobility of some races as opposed to the backwardness and slave mentality of others. The second myth is about the philosophic-scientific gifts of certain races and the corresponding lack in other races, Africa always being on the ungifted and uncivilised side of the scale.