Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o is the current Governor of the County Government of Kisumu in the Republic of Kenya – serving his second and final term as Governor.
He graduated from Makerere University, Kampala, in 1971 with a BA (First Class Honours) in Political Science and Philosophy before proceeding to the University of Chicago where he received his MA (1974) and PhD (1977) in Political Science.
He taught at the University of Nairobi (1977-81), El Colegio de Mexico (1971-84) and Addis Ababa University (1984-86) then joined the African Academy of Sciences as Head of Programs from 1987 to 1992.
Having been elected to Parliament in 1992, he served in various capacities in government including being the Minister for Planning and National Development (2003-05) and Minister for Medical Services (2008-2013) and first Senator of Kisumu County under the new Constitutional dispensation (2013-2017).
As the minister for Planning & National Development, he initiated the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) for Kenya that managed to grow the national economy from 0.2% annual growth in 2003 to 7% by 2007.
He has published several books and articles on democracy, democratization, the state and the political economy of development in Africa. Among the publications are “Popular Struggles for Democracy in Africa”, (London: Zed Books, 1987); “The Study of African Politics: A Critical Appreciation of A Heritage” (Nairobi: Ball Foundation, 2002); “A Leap Into the Future” (Nairobi: Word Alive Publishers, 2007) and Presidential or Parliamentary Democracy in Kenya: Choices to Be Made (Nairobi; Booktalk Africa Publishers, 2019).