His Excellency, Uhuru Kenyatta C.G.H. H.E. Hon Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was born on 26th October 1961. He is the son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of the Republic of Kenya. He attended St. Mary’s School in Nairobi. He then joined Amherst College, Massachusetts, USA to study Political Science and Economics. BUSINESS Upon his graduation, Hon. Uhuru returned to Kenya and was actively involved in the private sector as a businessman and entrepreneur. He held executive positions as chairman, chief executive and Director in varying companies with interest in brick and tile Manufacturers; tourism and hotel management; agricultural and horticultural farming; pharmaceutical production and distribution; construction, property management; and milk and dairy products processing and distribution. CAREER IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC SERVICE Hon. Kenyatta made his political debut in 1997 when he unsuccessfully ran for the Parliamentary seat for Gatundu South. In 1999, he was appointed the new chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board. He was nominated to Parliament in 2001, and became the Minister for Local Government under President Daniel arap Moi. In March 2001, Uhuru Kenyatta was elected as one of the four national vice-chairmen of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party. Hon. Kenyatta then ran for President as KANU’s candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki. He conceded defeat and subsequently became Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament. In January 2005, Hon. Kenyatta was elected National Chairman of the Kenya African National Union party (KANU). He actively participated and facilitated the nationwide party elections culminating in the historical election of the National Executive Council of KANU. He was elected Gatundu South Constituency Member of Parliament for two terms in 2002 and 2007. During his tenure as MP, he actively initiated and participated in development projects including: planning; development, sourcing and soliciting funds for projects such as electricity, water, roads, schools, churches, hospitals and other community projects; and assisting local groups, especially the youth and lower income groups in financial growth and development in general welfare activities. In 2005, he led his party in campaigns against the draft constitution in the November 2005 constitutional referendum. On 13 September 2007, Hon. Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 and backed Mwai Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election. Kibaki appointed Hon. Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008. Hon. Kenyatta was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade in April 2008. In the same year, he was transferred to the Treasury as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet, where he served up to January 2012. In Treasury, he served as a Governor of the East African Development Bank (EADB) and a member of the Committee of Ten comprising five African Finance Ministers and five Central Bank Governors, which is a working group established under the aegis of African Development Bank. He also served as Member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC).
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 06:21:04 +0000
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