Meet Dr Shem Ochuodho, the guru that introduced Internet in Kenya.

Through his political and corporate career, Dr Ochuodho is hailed for several achievements, but the one that stands out is his role as the pioneer of the internet in Kenya.

Dr. Ochuodho is a man of many hearts. He is a scholar, a corporate guru and a politician, having served as a member of Parliament for Rangwe constituency and contested as a presidential running mate in the 2013 general election.

As of May 2024, he was the global chairman of the Kenya Diaspora Alliance and a senior Policy Advisor for Africa.

Dr Ochuodho is alumnus of the University of Nairobi, where he attained a bachelor's degree in Physics and Mathematics and a Master of Science in Electric and Electronic Engineering.

He attended the University of York (UK), earning a PhD in Software Engineering .

According to the former Rangwe legislator, the internet entered Kenya on October 24 1995 at 3 am.

Explaining the journey to get internet in Kenya, Ochuodho noted the journey began with storing and forwarding emails.

"All e-mails to and from Kenya came through a store-and-forward server in one of my bedrooms that would poll an internet service provide (ISP) GreenNet in London, initially every Wednesday at midnight, which increased to once daily and, ultimately, hourly", he said in a past interviewing.

Ochuodho divulged that the journey to get internet into Kenya received a significant boost when the United States National Science Foundation gave them equipment and sent an Internet Engineer named Randy Bush, who helped with the installation of the signal, leading to the internet's premiere in Kenya on October 24 1995.

Kenya's First Website

Following the internet's arrival, Dr Ochuodho and his team leveraged it to connect Kenya to the world by dispatching daily news summaries to Kenyans in the diaspora. The team also offered internet training to adults and children.

He notes, the first website in the country was "designed and and developed by someone without hands, Godfrey Ipalei, currently IT manager at Kenya Wildlife Service".

The space later opened up, leading to the trumenduous internet growth we are enjoying today, including the high-speed internet in the comfort of our homes.

Ochuodho's contribution to the development of Internet in Kenya earned him several recognitions and awards such us The Kenya Community Abroad (KCA) Award for Excellence.

He was also invited by foreign governments such as Rwanda an Southern Sudan, to offer consultancy services on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).