The Other Side of Uhuru Kenyatta

UHURU KENYATTA

Kenya’s newly elected President is the son of former President Jomo Kenyatta and Mama Ngina. At 51 he is the youngest President to ever rule Kenya. He was born October 26, 1961. He attended St Mary’s School and completed his higher education at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He studied political science and economics.

Uhuru Kenyatta married Margaret Wanjiru in 1989 and has three children, Jomo, Ngina and Jaba

Uhuru Kenyatta is a multi-millionaire and one of the largest land owners in Kenya. The Kenyatta family now owns a commercial bank, luxury hotels and vast holdings of prime Kenyan land. Along with members of his family, Kenyatta owns at least 500,000 acres of prime land across Kenya. His estimated net worth is about $500 million.

He was nominated to Parliament in 2001 and he became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel Arap Moi. Kenyatta ran as KANU’s candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to Mwai Kibaki. He subsequently became leader of the opposition in Parliament. He backed Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Kibaki in January 2008, before becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of a coalition government formed with Raila Odinga.

He is currently accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election.

MAMA NGINA

Uhuru Kenyatta’s mother and third wife of the late Jomo Kenyatta is affectionately known as “Mama Ngina”. After her husband’s death she focused her energy to business. Mama Ngina now oversees a serious portfolio of brands and investments, including the largest privately owned Kenyan bank, the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), and the upmarket hotel chain Heritage. Brookside Dairies, East Africa’s leader in the dairy field with market share reaching from the region to the Middle East is another part of a vast investments empire which also includes media firm Media Max and Timsales Timber. She is believed to be one of the wealthiest women in Africa.