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Nyiva Mwendwa

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Kenyan politician

Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa is a Kenyan politician. She was the first Kenyan woman to serve as a cabinet minister.

Early life and education

She was educated at Alliance Girls High School, and was one of the first ethnic African teachers to be posted to The Kenya High School in the mid-1960s, teaching Domestic Science. She was elected for the post of Kitui West Constituency MP three times, in 1974 and 1992 representing KANU and in 2002 representing NARC. At the 2007 elections she contested the seat on the ODM-Kenya ticket, but lost to Charles Mutisya Nyamai. She was elected the first Kitui County woman representative in the 2013 Kitui local elections on a Wiper Democratic Movement-Kenya (WDM-K) ticket. In 2016, she announced her intention to retire from active politics 40 years since her debut.

Political life

Mwendwa was appointed the Minister for Culture and Social Services on May 9, 1995, becoming the first female minister in Kenya.

She caused a national disfavour in 1995 when she travelled to women’s conference in Beijing in 1995 and took a hairdresser as a part of her delegation. Mwendwa herself defended the decision by stating that being a delegation leader, she must take care of her appearance.

Her husband Kitili Maluki Mwendwa was Kenyan chief justice and politician. Kitili Mwendwa died in a traffic accident in 1985. He was at the time the Kitui West MP, his seat was taken at the subsequent by-election by his brother Kyale Mwendwa. His other brother, Eliud Ngala Mwendwa is also a former Kenyan minister.

She lives in Matinyani village in Kitui District. Nyiva Mwendwa has two children, Kavinya and Maluki.

Awards

She was awarded with The Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya, 2nd Class, Elder of the Golden Heart (EGH)

References

  1. "Alliance Girls High School: Historical Perspectives". Alliancegirlshigh.com. 1948-02-28. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  2. Center for Multiparty Democracy: Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007 Archived 2008-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Parliamentary election results 2007 - Kitui West". Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  4. "Woman of firsts and style". Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  5. Mutua, Paul. "Kitui Woman Rep Nyiva Mwendwa retires from politics". Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  6. The Power of the Media - A Handbook for Peacebuilders: Kenya - Gender and Conflict Media Projects Edited by Ross Howard, Francis Rolt, Hans van de Veen and Juliette Verhoeven
  7. ^ The Standard, October 23, 2008: Nyiva Mwendwa: Never give in to despair
  8. David Throup & Charles Hornsby: Multi-party Politics in Kenya James Currey Publishers, 1998 ISBN 0-85255-804-X
  9. genderadmin. "Hon. Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa EGH". State Department for Gender. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
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