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. […]
Listen Hailed as one of the foremost medical practitioners of our time, Betty Gikonyo’s story is a picture of determination and courage. She teamed up with colleagues to perform the first open-heart surgery in Kenya, creating hope for thousands of children, whose chances of survival were previously slim. Betty Gikonyo and her husband are the brains behind the Karen […]
Listen An elephant hurled her on to rocks, crushing her bones; not only did she live to tell the tale but she has dedicated her life to rescuing, rehabilitating and reintegrating elephants and rhinos. A fourth-generation Kenya-born Briton, Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick adopted her first orphaned animal, a bushbuck, when she was only three years old. “My parents […]
Listen History was made in 2004 when Wangari Muta Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” Her legacy lives on. Professor Wangari Muta Maathai was vocal about the plight of the Kenyan rural women, and championed their cause by planting trees, a connection no […]
Listen Before Owino started making leather from fish skin, fillet firms were dumping 150 tonnes of fish waste, 80 per cent of which was skin, on the beach. This was posing environmental and health hazards. On an early afternoon at Kajulu village, Kisumu East Sub county, Newton Owino tries on a new pair of shoes. […]
Listen Researchers at Egerton University believe they have found the perfect ingredient to animal feed and way to counter malnutrition in children. Every day, thousands of pawpaw fruits are consumed in homes and fruit salad bars across Kenya. To eat a pawpaw, you slice it open and remove the seeds which are thrown away as […]