Listen One of the first female Kenyan writers to be published, Grace Ogot was also a politician, nurse, author, journalist and diplomat. Ogot is among the founding members of the Writers Association of Kenya and was its chairperson from 1975 to 1980. She went to Parliament via a by-election in Gem Constituency after the murder […]
Listen Peris Pesi Tobiko made history when she became the first Maasai woman to be elected to a leadership position in 2013. She became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kajiado East. Tobiko has served as district officer and also as benefits manager at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the agency that oversees pensions. […]
Listen Nyiva Mwendwa has her place in Kenyan history firmly cemented as the first woman cabinet minister. She served as the Minister for Culture and Social Services in the Moi government, a position she was appointed to after being elected to Parliament in the 1992 elections. She had made her debut in politics in the […]
Listen Grace Akech Onyango is Kenya’s first female mayor and the first female (temporary) deputy speaker of the National Assembly. She beat 10 male opponents in the 1967 elections to serve as the mayor of Kisumu and was later elected Kisumu Town Member of Parliament (MP) on December 6, 1969, in a male dominated Parliament […]
Listen Hailed as the first woman in Kenya to run for president alongside Wangari Maathai, Charity Kaluki Ngilu has had a remarkable presence in the political arena. To date, she remains the female presidential candidate with the most votes following her attempt in 1997. She also served as the Kitui Central Member of Parliament as […]
Listen Sophia Abdi Noor defied the odds to become the first elected female Member of Parliament (MP) from north-eastern Kenya. She won the Ijara Constituency seat on a Party of Reforms and Development (PDR) ticket in the 2017 elections. She entered politics in 2008, as an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominated MP in the 10th […]
Listen Martha Karua is undoubtedly one of the most outspoken female politicians of our time; so much so that she was once referred to as ‘the only man in Kibaki’s cabinet’. The trained lawyer served as a magistrate before setting up her own law firm. She would then be catapulted into activism before delving into […]
Listen Phoebe Asiyo is a veteran politician with a heart for the welfare of others. Besides being the first female superintendent of the Kenya Prisons Service, she successfully vied for the Karachuonyo Constituency seat in 1979 and was the MP until 1997, when she opted not to run. Although retired from politics, she is still […]
Listen Philomena Chelagat Mutai still holds the record as the youngest female Member of Parliament (MP) in Kenya. At just 24 years old, Mutai trounced 11 other aspirants in the 1974 general elections to clinch the Eldoret North seat on a Kenya African National Union (KANU) ticket. This made her the youngest legislator and the […]
Listen To say Julia Ojiambo is a woman of firsts would be putting it mildly. Not only was she the first African woman to join the University of Nairobi, she was also the first African woman to be enrolled at the prestigious Harvard University and the first woman to be appointed assistant minister in Kenya. […]