in Kenya between the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) and the Ambassador-at-Large and international spokesman for the first major opposition party, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD). Okumu and Buthelezi Okumu is credited as the one responsible for convincing the Zulu leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, to drop his demands for an independent Zulu nation and take part in South Africa's democratic elections in 1994. This was after a team of international mediators, whom Okumu had accompanied as special adviser, had tried and failed to convince Buthelezi. This is said to have helped the country avoid bloodshed and conduct peaceful elections. Personal life Okumu married Rispah Achieng' Agol, a nurse, before leaving Kenya for the U.S and together they had eight children. Rispah died on 25 January 2011. Death Okumu died in his home in Nyang'oma East village in Siaya county on 1 November 2016 after a battle with diabetes, hypertension and arthritis. References Alumni of the University of Cambridge Harvard University alumni 1936 births 2016 deaths