Margaret Kenyatta is the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. She is married to Kenya’s 4th President, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. A trained teacher by profession, she attended Kianda School in Nairobi before proceeding to Kenyatta University where she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Education. Born on 8 April 1964, she is the daughter of a former Director of Kenya Railways Corporation, the late Dr Ephantus Njuguna Gakuo and Magdallena Gakuo, a German native.

Mama Margaret is the patron of the Beyond Zero campaign whose focus is on the elimination of maternal and child mortality in Kenya. She hosts the annual First Lady’s Half Marathon that seeks to raise funds for the Beyond Zero initiative. In October 2014 the mother of three was named UN person of the year for her promotion of these goals.
Beyond Zero has received massive support from the public as well as corporate entities and non- governmental organisations. Companies such as General Motors, East African Breweries, Tullow Oil, Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank among others, as well as private sponsors such as Aliko Dangote from Nigeria, are among the sponsors of the campaign. The campaign has been able to meet its target of having at least one mobile clinic in every county, with the 47th mobile clinic having been handed over to the former Governor of Nairobi, Evans Kidero, in September 2016.

Since its inception, Beyond Zero has organised three successful half marathons in Nairobi. Mama Margaret has run in all of them, drawing praise both locally and internationally for not only meeting its objectives but for also promoting a healthy lifestyle. In her quest to create awareness and raise funds for Beyond Zero, she made history in 2014 by completing the full 42 kilometres in the Virgin Money London Marathon in 7 hours 4 minutes. Later that year, the First Lady was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kenyatta University in recognition of this humanitarian campaign.

In March 2017, Mama Margaret received the highly esteemed Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for her dedication to alleviating maternal and child deaths in Kenya through the Beyond Zero initiative. The award also recognised her efforts to reduce HIV transmission from mother to child.
Mama Margaret is an unobtrusive, mild-mannered and dignified woman who is well loved in the country. She is often praised for her simplicity, her Afro-centric fashion sense and her excellent communication skills.

She has been at the forefront of celebrating women’s achievements and highlighting the sacrificial contributions of the sung and unsung Kenyan heroines whose participation in nation- building continues to hold the country together.