President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday feted 30 women as trailblazers for their outstanding achievements and contributions to society.
The list includes leaders involved in initiatives that have empowered women since independence.
Ida Odinga
Public Service Chief Administrative Secretary Racheal Shebesh praised Ida as a prominent entrepreneur, an activist and an educator.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nairobi in 1974 and worked as a teacher for more than 20 years.
During the imprisonment of her husband and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, she raised her four children alone. They are the late Fidel, Rosemary, Raila Junior and Winnie. Fidel passed away on January 4, 2015, under unclear circumstances after a night out with friends. Raila was detained for nearly eight years by the Kanu regime under President Daniel arap Moi after being linked to the failed 1982 coup and agitation for multipartyism in the early 1990s.
Ida founded the League of Kenya Women Voters in 1991 which promotes equal opportunities for women in the political arena. She advocates for breast cancer and fistula awareness, and eradication of the chigoe flea. She also mentors schoolgirls.
In 2003, Ida became the Managing Director of East African Spectre, a liquefied gas cylinder manufacturing company - a flagship company of the Odinga family.
Phoebe Asiyo
Fondly known as Mama Asiyo, her speech caught the attention of former US President Barack Obama when he visited Kenya last month.
Born in September 1930, Asiyo holds the distinction of being one of the longest-serving
women MPs, she is a United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) ambassador, a mother and grandmother.
Asiyo was elected Karachuonyo MP in 1980 till Parliament was dissolved in 1983. She was reelected in 1992 after the multi-party system
was reintroduced in Kenya and served until 1997.
She was the Unifem ambassador from 1988 to 1992. Asiyo was part of the delegation that went to Uganda to advocate for the participation of women in peace talks.
She is the first woman elevated to the position of Luo elder because of her efforts to promote education for girls, women’s rights and gender equality in Kenya.
Asiyo has dedicated her life to improving the political atmosphere in Kenya, helping people affected by HIV and fighting Female Genital Mutilation.
She chairs of the Caucus for Women’s Leadership. Asiyo teaches young women and advocates for women in leadership roles and skills. On Thursday, the President Uhuru also launched her memoir,
It’s Possible: An African Woman Speaks.
Margaret Kenyatta (posthumously)
Margret Wambui Kenyatta - Stepsister to President Uhuru Kenyatta- was born in 1928 to Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta and his wife Grace Wahu.
She was a lecturer, politician and women’s advocate.
She served as the Mayor of Nairobi from 1970 to 1976 and as Kenya's Permanent Representative to the UN from 1976 to 1986.
She was thereafter appointed as a Commissioner with the Electoral Commission of Kenya from 1992 to 2002.
Margaret was very passionate about women’s issues and was committed to improving the lives of women, especially their rights and increasing their voice to be heard.
She was deeply involved in the movement to find the rightful role of women in an independent state.
In 1962, Margaret became the chairperson of the Kenya Women Seminar and was among the convenors of the East African Women Seminars in 1 Which brought together EA women leaders to discuss their role as women in the economic and political development of their young nations.
She was a member of Maendeleo ya Wanawake, the National Council of Women of Kenya and utilised her contacts with international movements such as Countrywomen of the World, International Council of Women, Women Presbyterians of Canada, and the Young Women's Christian Association.
In 1964, she became the President of the National Council of Women of Kenya.
She addressed conferences and seminars throughout the world on women's roles in nation-building.
Margret passed away peacefully at her home in Lavington, Nairobi, on 5 April 2017 at the age of 89.
Julia Ojiambo
Julia is the first Kenyan woman to be admitted to Harvard University. She was appointed an Assistant Minister for Housing and Social Services in 1965 until 1979.
She was Kenya’s second elected woman MP when she became the Funyula lawmaker in 1974.
In 1956 she became the first African woman warden of University Women’s Halls of Residence and is credited with developing a protein-rich biscuit used in the treatment of kwashiorkor.
In 1985 Ojiambo led the Kenyan delegation in the UN Conference on Women held in Nairobi and was the chair of Kenya Plants Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) until 2012.
An alumnus of the University of Nairobi, she has also served as an executive director for the International Centre for Health Development and Research and a commissioner of the Higher Education Board. She has written over 100 scientific publications on nutrition and books such as ‘Trees of Kenya’ published in 1978.
Ojiambo was the only woman among the top political leaders who in 2007 formed the Orange Democratic Movement.
Some of the awards she has received are Deans Research Grant Award at Nairobi University, Foods and Agriculture Organization UN, Ceres Gold Medal Winner (for Distinguished Service in Rural Programmes and in Advancement of Women, 1976).
In February 2007, she was awarded the Kenya Coalition for Action in Nutrition Nutritionist of the Year.
Ojiambo was a former presidential running mate to Kalanzo Musyoka in the 2007 General Election.
Beth Mugo
Born in 1939, Beth Mugo is a politician and a former Minister of Public Health and Sanitation. She is the founder and Managing Director of Beth International Health and Kenya Management Assistance Programme.
Mugo has also served as the president of the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women Africa, a regional NGO that campaigns for economic justice for women by pushing for mainstreaming and inclusion of gender-friendly frameworks in all legislation and policy.
She was the MP for Dagoretti from December 1997 to 2013.
She also served as an Assistant Minister for Tourism, Education, Public Health and Sanitation and Higher Education, Science and Technology.
Mugo has served as an Executive Director of Hobby Hotels.
Nyiva Mwenda
Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa is a politician who was the first Kenyan woman to be appointed as a Cabinet minister. She was elected Kitui West MP three times, in 1974, 1992 and 2002.
Nyiva was named Minister for Culture and Social Services in 1995 by President Moi - becoming the first female minister in Kenya.
She caused an uproar when in 1995 she travelled to Women’s Conference in Beijing and took a hairdresser as a part of her delegation. Mwendwa defended the decision by stating that being a delegation leader, she must take care of her appearance.
Nyiva quit active politics in 2017 serving as Kitui Woman Representative in 2013.
Her late husband Kitili Maluki Mwendwa was the Chief justice between 1968 to 1971.
Zipporah Kittony
Former Nominated Senator Zipporah Jepchirchir Kittony was born in 1943. She has been deemed a loyal Kanu member from the time she joined active politics.
Kittony was recognised by the United Graduate College University in USA for efforts and awarded her a doctorate for her
humanitarian work at Gretsa University, Thika.
She has been awarded The Order of Grand Warrior (OGW), The Moran of the Burning Spear MBS and Woman of the Year (1999) by the American Biographical Institute USA.
Kittony served as the chairperson of the Maendeleo ya Wanake Organisation and was the first woman to be elected chairperson of the Royal Agricultural Society.
She has advocated for equal women representation and eradication of Female Genital Mutilation.
Wanjiku Kabira
Wanjiku Kabira is an associate professor of literature at the University of Nairobi.
She has served as in various capacities notably as a vice chair in the Kenya Constitutional Review Process (2000-2005), chairperson Women Political Alliance, Director Collaborative Center for Gender and Development and Chair, Department of Literature, University of Nairobi.
Kabira has been actively involved in women's affairs and has published widely on literature, women and on gender issues.
One of her notable books is “A Letter to Mariama Ba”. Others are “Our Secret Lives”, “They Have Destroyed the Temple”, “ Celebrating Women's Resistance” and “The Oral Artist”.
Her book, "A Time for Harvest", traces the women’s journey in the struggle for a new Constitution beginning from 1992 to 2012. She reminds the women MPs that their mere presence in Parliament will be fruitless if it is not properly utilised.
Her work with women saw the founding of the African Women Studies Centre at the University of Nairobi in June.
Other published credits of Wanjiku Mukabi Kabira include Agikuyu (Heritage Library of African Peoples East Africa).
Eddah Gachukia
Born in 1936, Eddah Wavheke Gachukia is an educationist and entrepreneur. She is a co-founder of the Riara Group of Schools that includes Riara University.
Gachukia was the founding Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (Fawe) in 1993 to 1998.
She was the chairperson of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (Femnet) between 1988 and 1992.
She has also held the following positions: National Advisor to Unesco on Population Information and Development Communication for Kenya, chairperson of the Board of Governors at the Kenya High School, Uchumi Supermarkets and the National Council of Women of Kenya.
Gachukia was a member of the board at Kenya Airways and Nation Newspapers Limited.
Other notable women awarded were Grace Onyango, International Criminal Court judge Justice Joyce Aluoch and the first Kenyan female professor Maria Nzomo, Muthoni Likimani, a literature icon and educationist Mary Okelo.
Dr Jane Kiano and Justice Ephie Owuor were also honoured.
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