Mbiyu koinange biography templates

PeterMbiyuKoinange

Son of Koinange Wa Mbiyu and [mother unknown]

Brother of Frederick Mbiyu Koinange, Lilian Wairimu (Koinange) Kariuki, Charles Karuga Koinange, John Koinange, Joseph Karuga Koinange, Grace (Wanjiku) Kenyatta and [private sister (1940s - unknown)]

[spouse(s) unknown]

[children unknown]

Profile last modified | Created 12 Mar 2023

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Biography

Mbiyu Koinange was the first Kenyan African to hold a postgraduate degree, Mbiyu Koinange was a politician who served in the government and cabinet of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, for 16 years.

Mbiyu was born in 1907, in Njunu, Kiambu District, Central, Kenya. He was the eldest son of Kikuyu chief Wa Mbiyu and Wairimu, the chief's great wife. He was one of seven children, with another six siblings who died either at birth or early on in their childhood.

Mbiyu's elder sister, Isabella, was one of Kenya's first trained African nurses, while his younger brother, Charles Karuga Koinange, served as a colonial chief and was a civil servant in independent Kenya for more than 30 years. He was also brother to Grace Wanjiku, Jomo Kenyatta's third wife.

In 1927, Mbiyu travelled to the United States for an education. He attended Hampton Institute in Virginia, where he graduated in 1931. He then attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, completing a four-year bachelor's degree in 1935. Next, he received a one-year postgraduate certificate in education from Columbia University in 1936. Mbiyu then travelled to England where he spent a year at the University of Cambridge, St. John's College as a Rhodes Scholar, followed by a year at the University of London Institute of Education, before returning to Kenya in 1939.

Upon his return to return to Kenya and in consultation with his father, Mbiyu, Mbiyu established an African-run, community-owned college, modeled on his alma mater Hampton Institute and on Tuskegee University. Mbiyu Koinange was the principal of this

Situated at Githunguri, and know as the Kenya Teachers College, the school's objective was to train teachers for the Kikuyu Independent Schools Association (KISA) and the Kikuyu Karinga Education Authority (KKEA), and to increase their independence from missionary training centers.

In 1952, a state of emergency was decreed in Kenya and six of Mbiyu's associates, Jomo Kenyatta, Kung’u Karumba, Paul Ngei, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai and Achieng Oneko, were arrested for “managing the Mau Mau” and sentenced to seven years’ hard labor. Only for the fact that he was in England representing the Kenya African Union, did Mbiyu narrowly escaping being arrested himself. Mbiyu remained in England for the next ten years, not returning to Kenya until 1962, as the secretary of the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and South Africa. It was during his time in England that Mbuyi stopped using the name Peter.

From 1963 to 1979, Mbuyi was the Kiambaa Constituency MP. During his 16-year tenure, Mbiyu served in several roles including Minister of State for Pan-African Affairs, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Education, and for the majority of his tenure, Minister of State in the Office of the President (1966–79). But, Mbiyu was more than just a powerful Minister of State, he was President Kenyatta’s bosom friend, in-law, confidant and instrumental political go-between, regarded as the power behind the throne and one of the key decision makers in the formative years of the young Kenyan nation.

When Daniel arap Moi assumed the presidency following Kenyatta's death in 1978, Mbiyu was demoted to the less visible Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and in 1979 he lost the Kiambaa seat to Njenga Karume.

Upon the end of his career in politics. Mbiyu became chairman of the Kenya Salt Company.

Mbiyu died after suffering a heart attack, 2 Sep 1981 at Nairobi Hospital., He was 74 years old.

Sources

• The Koinanges' formidable lineage, Standard Digital, 27 Aug 2017. Available online at The Standard

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