{"id":25123,"date":"2021-03-31T18:53:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/?p=25123"},"modified":"2021-03-31T18:53:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T18:53:57","slug":"the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs","title":{"rendered":"The Koinanges: Blue Eyed Family That Has Held Power for Over 100 Yrs"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> William Shakespeare, the legendary English playwright once quipped that some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon. In Kenya, to be born a Koinange is almost a sure way to greatness if history is anything to go by.<\/p>\n

For as long as Kenya has existed, the Koinanges have been a critical part of its history, occupying positions of power in government and in the private sector.<\/p>\n

The family is one that has managed\u00a0to stay in power for over 100 years\u00a0since the days of Senior Chief Koinange, a leader during the 1920s in the colonial government.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/div>\n
The late cabinet Minister Mbiu Koinange (L) and president Jomo Kenyatta in a past photo<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

The story begins with\u00a0Koinange Wa Mbiyu\u00a0who was appointed as the headman in 1921 by the colonial government. It was just a year after Kenya had been declared a British colony with the headmen being some of the most powerful officials.<\/p>\n

17 years later, he was appointed as the Senior chief before serving as an adviser on African affairs to the DC until 1949 when he retired.<\/p>\n

In 1952, however, he was detained by the colonial government for exploitation of land in the Central Province of Kenya and was only released in 1960. At this time, however, his health had deteriorated and died shortly at the age of 95.<\/p>\n

He was the patriarch of the Koinange family. He\u00a0had six wives and a number of children. One of his\u00a0daughters, Grace Wanjiku, got married to Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta in 1946, becoming the third wife.<\/p>\n

Wanjiku, however, died while giving birth to Jeni Wambui in 1951. Her daughter, Jeni Wambui survived and was adopted by Kenyatta’s fourth wife, Mama Ngina.<\/p>\n

Wambui is the mother to Soiya, Nana and Jomo Gecaga. Nana and Jomo are currently serving in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration in senior government positions.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/div>\n
The KICC Managing Director Nana Gecaga goes about her daily activities in her office.<\/div>\n
FILE<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Nana is the\u00a0CEO of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre\u00a0(KICC), a building owned by the government of Kenya. The building hosts conferences, concerts and exhibitions.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Jomo Gecaga is the president’s private secretary.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also serving in Uhuru’s administration is Attorney General Paul Kariuki. He is the son of Lilian Wairimu, a daughter of senior chief Koinange.<\/p>\n

Senior chief Koinange’s son Mbiyu Koinange served in first president Jomo Kenyatta’s administration as his right-hand man and in government for 16 years.<\/p>\n

During this time, he served as the Minister of State for Education, External Affairs, Pan-African Affairs, and Minister of State in the Office of the President. He was\u00a0the first Kenyan to get a bachelor’s\u00a0degree. He also served as MP for Kiambaa constituency.<\/p>\n

At his height, Mbiyu was so powerful that he is reported to have refused to sleep in the same room with any of his wives\u00a0out to fear that he would reveal state secrets in his sleep.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Mbiyu<\/div>\n
Mbiyu Koinange (R) who served as a minister in first president Jomo Kenyatta’s government.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Another of Senior Chief Koinange’s son is Fred Mbiyu Koinange, who was the first Kenyan of African descent to own a petrol station. He was the father of media personality Jeff Koinange. Jeff has been a heavyweight in the Kenyan media industry for two decades.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the media personality confirmed that\u00a0the late Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange\u00a0was part of the senior chief family after he informed that they were cousins. Paul was the son of John Karuga Koinange (Senior Chief’s son) who served as Kiambaa Senator between 1963 and 1966.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Wilfred Koinange, a powerful Finance PS in President Daniel arap Moi’s government, was also a member of the Koinange family. He was the son of Charles Karuga, another of the Senior Chief’s sons who served as Eastern PC in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

The family has continued to build ties with other powerful ties. For instance, Mama Ngina’s brother, George Muhoho, married Jeni Njeri Koinange, daughter of Senator John Koinange – cementing ties to the\u00a0powerful family of Senior Chief Muhoho as well as that of the Kenyatta clan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: William Shakespeare, the legendary English playwright once quipped that some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon. In Kenya, to be born a Koinange is almost a sure way to greatness if history is anything to go by. For as long as Kenya has existed, the Koinanges have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8],"tags":[8050,8051],"class_list":["post-25123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-mbiu-koinange","tag-nana-gecaga"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Koinanges: Blue Eyed Family That Has Held Power for Over 100 Yrs - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"William Shakespeare, the legendary English playwright once quipped that some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Koinanges: Blue Eyed Family That Has Held Power for Over 100 Yrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Shakespeare, the legendary English playwright once quipped that some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-31T18:53:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/03\/paul-koinange-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"247\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The Koinanges: Blue Eyed Family That Has Held Power for Over 100 Yrs\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-31T18:53:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2021\/03\/paul-koinange-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Mbiu Koinange\",\"Nana Gecaga\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/files\/the-koinanges-blue-eyed-family-that-has-held-power-for-over-100-yrs\",\"name\":\"The Koinanges: Blue Eyed Family That Has Held Power for Over 100 Yrs - 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