By Annie Deck-Miller
Buffalo Law Journal

In a nod to his focuses as dean, Makau Mutua brought Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga to the University at Buffalo Law School and to Western New York last weekend.

Invited to give the address at the law school's commencement, Odinga - a friend and colleague from Mutua's work as chairman of the Kenya Human Rights Commission - toured Niagara Falls, connected with alumni donors and talked with UB leaders about possible educational collaborations.

"UB Law is a leader among law schools in human-rights law," Mutua noted in an e-mail exchange with the Buffalo Law Journal. "The prime minister's visit underscores this legacy and serves as a notice of our intention to enhance it."

Mutua, a Kenya native, said he, UB Provost Satish Tripathi and Odinga talked about creating research, internship and teaching opportunities in Kenya for UB students and faculty. "Already, I (have) sent at least two students a year to Kenya to work with human-rights NGOs there during the summer. So we have a basis on which to build."

Mutua said he and Tripathi also spoke to Kenya's ambassador to the United States, Peter Ogego, "to explore how we can work with the embassy to expose our students to the practice of international law in Washington, D.C."

Thomas Black Jr. '79, a Texas lawyer who's chairman of the law school's Dean's Advisory Council, said the visit of the prime minister "takes us to a new level."

"Having a head of state come - but one who so much symbolizes the battle for human rights and for the protections of the rule of law - is something that will encourage our students to focus on those two issues," he said Saturday.

"As a result of this visit, a lot of really exciting things are happening," said Joseph Schneider, director of post-professional and international education at UB Law.

"It wasn't just having someone here to speak," he said. "Everyone took advantage of the fact that we were all together in this place."

What he said

Speaking in Niagara Falls Saturday morning to an audience of reporters and UB Law alumni, Odinga touched on both civil rights and environmental issues.

"The civil-rights movement has its history in the waters here," he said, referring to the local roots of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Something else that has excited us is the cleanliness of the water here.... It's a lesson we are taking back home."

 He also made reference to the Kenyan lineage of America's president.

"Nobody has inspired our Kenyan youth as much as the election of Barack Obama," he said, "because of what he says and what he wants to do in the world."

Odinga has spent nearly 10 years as a political prisoner in Kenya. He became prime minister of the republic in April 2008 after months of bloodshed that followed a contested election in which he was a candidate for president.

The prime minister said he hopes to work toward stronger trade relations between the U.S. and Kenya, to seek investments in Africa and to encourage more Americans to visit Africa, and Kenya in particular.

His comments about University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutua hinted at an ongoing connection.

Referring to Mutua, he said: "He is a very good bridge between the university and Kenya."