Married to Pauline Musyoka. They have three children.
BIOGRAPHY
Education background: Early learning at Tseikuru Full Primary School between 1960 and 1967 before he proceeded to Kitui High School for O levels, then Meru School for A levels. Joined university of Nairobi where he graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1977. He also holds a post graduate diploma in legal practice from the Kenya School of Law (KSL) which he obtained in 1978. Additionally, he holds a postgraduate diploma in Business from the Mediterranean Institute of Management in Cyprus.
Married to Pauline Musyoka, they have three children: Kennedy Musyoka Kalonzo, Klein Kalonzo and Damaris Musenya. Kennedy, the first born, is a lawyer and serves as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).
First elected in parliament in 1985, Mr Musyoka served as Kenya’s 10th vice president between 2008 and 2010 under late President Mwai Kibaki.
He first tried his hand in politics when he unsuccessfully vied for the Kitui North Constituency parliamentary seat in 1983 and lost to Phillip Manandu. However, two years later, the seat was declared vacant after the death of Mr Manandu and Mr Musyoka, then aged 32, was voted in in the by-election that followed.
He was appointed Assistant Minister for Works, Housing and Physical Planning in 1986. He was re-elected as MP in the 1988 general election and was also elected Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, serving until the 1992 general election.
Late former President Daniel Moi appointed him Foreign Minister. He also served as Minister for Education and Information, communication and Tourism until 2002.
He also served as the National Organizing Secretary for Kanu from 1988 to 2002. He quit Kanu in 2002 and together with Mr Raila Odinga, the late George Saitoti and JJ Kamotho, he joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which joined forces with Mr Kibaki’s NAK to form a new government after the 2002 elections. He was once again appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs but was re-deployed to the Ministry of Environment in a cabinet reshuffle in 2004.
Mr Moi had previously appointed him to chair the Sudan-Somalia peace talks but Mr Kibaki later replaced him in 2004. He was sacked from cabinet, where he served as Environment Minister, alongside Mr Odinga after they opposed the draft Constitution that had been proposed by Ministers allied to the former Head of state in the 2005 referendum. Mr Kalonzo reportedly received his dismissal letter from then Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura telling him to resign with immediate effect.
He founded ODM-K and used it contest the 2007 presidential election where he came third behind Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga. He was subsequently appointed vice president in the grand coalition government that was formed by the two rivals after peace negotiations mediated by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan.
He would later join hands with Mr Odinga in the 2013 general election where he was his running mate, and again in the 2017 general election.
