Top 20 Famous Kenyan people

Top 20 Famous Kenyan People

*Originally published by Pamela on July 2020 and Updated by Vanessa R on May 2023

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The Republic of Kenya is a nation known for its huge and differing social heritages. Home to a few ethnic gatherings, the way of life of Kenya likewise mirrors the impacts of European social orders as the country was under British frontier rule for right around a century.

Jomo Kenyatta, a scholarly and government official turned into the establishing father of the Kenyan countryside and filled in as the pioneer of the country from its freedom in 1963 to his demise. Home to an expected 47 distinct networks, Kenya has a different populace that incorporates most major ethnic-racial and phonetic gatherings found in Africa.

As anyone might expect, Kenyan culture is a rich amalgamation of the practices, practices, and customs of all its occupant networks. It has a different variety of well-known music structures and performers.

Kenya has a long oral and composed scholarly custom, principally in English and Swahili, the two authority dialects of the nation, and has created celebrated journalists, on-screen characters, artists and humanitarians today. Let us take a gander at the best twenty Kenyan popular individuals.

1. Wangari Maathai

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Wangari Maathai was an eminent tree hugger dissident who spent the better 50% of her life battling for natural issues. A Nobel Prize laureate, she was the principal African lady and the primary tree hugger to be offered with the renowned honour.

Other than this, she has various firsts shockingly, the principal being the main African lady to be granted with a doctorate qualification. It was her amazing scholastic foundation and extraordinary abilities that earned her esteemed situations at the University of Nairobi. It was during the 1970s that she established the Green Belt Movement, which included planting trees to moderate the earth.

With time, the non-government association extended and focussed on natural preservation and ladies’ privileges also. Towards the last 50% of her life, she turned into a political dissident. Chosen as a Member of Parliament, she filled in as colleague serves for Environment and Natural Resources in the administration of President Mwai Kibaki from January 2003 and November 2005. In 2006, France offered to her perhaps the most elevated enrichment, Legion D’ Honneur.

2.Lupita Nyong’o

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Lupita Nyong’o is an honour winning Kenyan–Mexican entertainer. She was instructed in the US and went from being a creative associate to winning an ‘Institute Award’ in only a couple of years. Her amazing ability and knowledge assisted her to assemble a great profession, with various and significant ventures that most on-screen characters can just dream of.

Her ‘Foundation Award’- winning part came soon after she graduated from ‘Yale,’ in the profoundly acclaimed movie ’12 Years a Slave,’ coordinated by Steve McQueen. That was the first run through a Kenyan or a Mexican on-screen character had ever won an ‘Institute Award.’ She likewise conveyed splendid exhibitions on ‘Broadway,’ in the play ‘Obscured,’ which was exceptionally lauded by pundits.

She coordinated a music video and showed up in film industry hits, for example, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ ‘The Jungle Book,’ ‘Dark Panther,’ and the blood and gore flick ‘Us.’ She likewise battles to bring issues to light for issues in Africa, for example, genuine medical issues, poachers, and basic entitlements.

3. Jomo Kenyatta

Jomo Kenyatta was a Kenyan government official, who filled in as Prime Minister and later President of Kenya. He has assumed the characterizing job in testing the racial oppression in Kenyan political and social environment and the long run drove numerous developments to divert Kenya from a steadfast British province into a free republic.

His gathering, Kenya Africa National Union, battled for Kenya’s autonomy and Jomo drove it until his absolute a years ago, keeping up his position as a shameless pioneer. From concentrating in the London School of Economics to working in a homestead in Sussex during the universal war, Jomo went over a few veneers of being an individual of colour on the planet capital of white cleaned individuals, England.

His enemy of pilgrim opinions surged out in the mid-40s when he began joining in and sorting out shows against prejudice and imperialism and referred to George Padmore as the greatest impact of his political tendencies. In 1946, he returned to East Africa and began running a school, in the long run turning out to be the leader of Kenyan African Union in 1947.

4. Mwai Kibaki

Mwai Kibaki was the third President of Kenya who looked to carry dynamic changes and solidness to his country. He was dynamic on the political scene from the beginning of Kenya’s autonomy and worked in different government positions.

Having filled in as Vice President in earlier years, he had the experience and information on legislative issues and government, giving him the bit of leeway to lead Kenya in the privilege fair heading.

Kenya had been ruled by the KANU (Kenyan African National Union) since it gained autonomy from Britain in 1963. Mwai Kibaki framed his gathering, specifically, ‘Vote based Party’ after aftermath with the then imperious president, Daniel Arap Moi, and started his excursion towards administration.

Coming into power at a crucial time for the nation, he came as a new change for Kenya; he was a fairly chosen pioneer who was invited broadly and universally. While the happiness didn’t last, as the rot of natural political defilement kept on inhibiting and impede progress in this sub-Saharan nation, Kibaki presented protected change, free essential training, and put forth attempts to restore a harmed medicinal services framework.

5. Richard Leakey

Richard Leakey is an individual from the celebrated Leakey paleoanthropology research group of Kenya. For more than fifty years, he has energetically shielded untamed life, free idea, and protection. Extreme medical problems have not blocked him from seeking after professions in legislative issues and authorization of untamed life security laws.

He was conceived in Nairobi, and he delighted in a functioning youth which was loaded up with experiences in the African backwoods. At an opportune time, he upheld racial equity, and experienced mistreatment his companions in the pioneer environment of Kenya, prevalent in that time.

He created aptitudes as a plane pilot while using his experience in untamed life taking care of to turn into a photographic safari pioneer, bone identifier, and general outdoorsman. He opposed getting associated with the family paleoanthropology field, yet his proclivity for fossil work discovered articulation inevitably when he worked for his dad. Recently free, he headed worldwide groups of anthropologists in Ethiopia and Kenya who found significant fossils of early mankind.

6. Raila Odinga

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Raila Odinga is a Kenyan agent and lawmaker regularly viewed as the dad of vote based system in the nation. Naturally introduced to a politically dynamic family; his dad filled in as Kenya’s first Vice President. In the wake of finishing his training in Germany, he came back to Kenya, where he started a showing profession, while simultaneously taking an interest in different undertakings identified with his field of mechanical designing.

Later he would get associated with governmental issues himself. He was one of the most unmistakable supporters of the development for political change in Kenya, especially for multi-party vote based system, as opposed to the customary single-party governmental issues in the nation.

He would spend time in jail in jail for these exercises on a few distinct events, including one spell enduring six years, and would get various dangers of death. After his last detainment, he would proceed to stir his way up the Kenyan political stepping stool, framing and joining various ideological groups, and running for president on numerous occasions.

7. Uhuru Kenyatta

Uhuru Kenyatta is the fourth and current President of Kenya. Naturally introduced to a political and well off family, he is the child of Jomo Kenyatta, the principal President of Kenya. In the wake of finishing his instruction from the USA, he came back to his country and began a cultivation business, which turned out to be very fruitful.

Be that as it may, originating from a political foundation, he was unable to stay separated from it for long and went into governmental issues as the executive of his old neighbourhood part of the decision party, KANU, which his dad had driven previously.

Accordingly, Uhuru Kenyatta was designated as the presidential competitor of the gathering by the then President Daniel Arap Moi. In the wake of losing the presidential decisions, he filled in as the restriction chief in the parliament for quite a while.

8. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

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As an author, dramatist, columnist and teacher Ngugi Wa Thiong’o has been generally viewed as East Africa’s most powerful essayist. His analysis of pilgrim rule, Christianity and postcolonial mishandles earned him as much profound respect from the general population as inconvenience from Kenya’s specialists.

Ngugi burst onto the scholarly scene in East Africa with the presentation of his first significant play, The Black Hermit, at the National Theater in Kampala, Uganda, in 1962.

9. Mohamed Amin

Mohamed “Mo” Amin, widely acclaimed picture taker, cameraman and distributer, propelled Camerapix in 1963 from a little shop in Dar es Sallam. Since then it has developed to a cutting edge, autonomous media worried about notoriety for conveying world restrictive pictures, and stories at the front line of newscasting in Africa.

Camerapix utilizes more than 30 media experts now, who work out of its base camp in Nairobi and an office in London.

10. Catherine Ndereba

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Catherine Ndereba was brought into the world on July 31, 1972, in Kenya — a standout amongst other female Marathon sprinters on the planet. She set a world precedent of 2:18:47, winning the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2001. She felt free to win the silver decoration for the Kenyan group at the 2004 Olympics in Greece.

11. Harry Thuku 

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Harry Thuku was a Kenyan politician who got active in politics at a young age. In 1921, he started the Young Kikuyu Association. In Kenya, the Association was one of the earliest political organisations to introduce modern African nationalism. As Kenya’s anti-colonial resistance gained ground, Thuku grew more conservative.

He developed into a prosperous coffee grower and finally became the first African to join the Kenyan Coffee Farmers’ Union. Thuku condemned the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952 and once more in 1954. Later, he stopped participating in Kenyan politics.

12. Mr. C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek 

Foreign Affairs Minister in 1963 was Argwings-Kodhek. He earned degrees in both law and social science and was Kenya’s first African barrister.

According to writer William Oloo-Janak: Argwings-Kodhek “used his knowledge to struggle for independence, giving the intellectual expertise and articulation of issues against the colonial rulers, like many other educated Luos. Kodhek, for instance, utilised his legal knowledge to successfully defend Mau Mau suspects in court. Although he was believed to have died in a car accident, history has revealed that C.M.G. Argwings-Kodhek, a former close confidant of Kenyatta, may have died from a bullet fired from a police rifle in 1969.

13. Khaligraph Jones

 Robert Ouko also known as Khaligraph Jones’ was born on  June 12, 1990.  At neighbourhood clubs in Eastlands, the rapper from Kayole first began to outperform others.

It was not simple for him to start out as an artist. At the end of his events, he would usually not receive payment, but that did not deter him from pursuing his passion. At the age of 13, he put out his debut song. He became well-known for the song “Yego.”

14. Dr J.G Kiano – Minister for Labour in 1964

Honourable Ronald Ngala, Kenya African Democratic Union (KANU) President (1923–1972). Mr Ngala was a politician and statesman from Kenya who served as the party’s leader from the organisation in 1960 until its dissolution in 1964.

Several prominent politicians who turned down Jomo Kenyatta’s Kenya African National Union (KANU) founded KANU in 1960.

15. King Kaka 

Kenyan rapper King Kaka has gained popularity throughout the country. Kennedy Ombima, as he is better known today, goes by the stage names King Kaka and Rabbit. He was born on May 7, 1987.  Through his album Tales of Kaka Sungura, King Kaka made his musical breakthrough. Despite the fact that the record was in Swahili, it helped him get a lot of fame in the country.

With successes like Uko Chua, Swahili Shakespeare, and Adisia, King Kaka was able to gather tens of thousands of followers, and soon some of his songs were being sung as street anthems.

16. Edi Gathegi

Edi_Gathegi.jpg: Anthony Citrano from Los Angeles, USAderivative work: RanZag, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Edi Gathegi selected a profession that allowed him to fully express his creative side. He has been on CSI: Miami, Start-Up, and The Blacklist, a critically acclaimed show. He is one of the most popular Kenyan-American entertainers, Edi Gathegi, is always improving. In the year 2006, Edi made his acting debut in the movie Crank. Since then, he has been in other movies. He is one of the most well-known artists in the world and in the television industry

17. Brenda Wairimu

Brenda Wairimu always puts her best effort forward when it comes to her career. In Changing Times, a cast drama that starred Nice Githinji and Ian Mugoya, Brenda appeared on television in late 2009. She played Shareefah. Following a successful debut that caught producers’ attention, Brenda was offered the lead role in the Kenyan soap opera Mali in 2011. She has successfully maintained her financial stability as an entrepreneur by putting in a lot of effort with businesses, acting, modelling, and her desire to become a top-tier producer.

18. Nick Mutuma

Kenyan entertainer Nicholas Munene Mutuma, better known by his stage name Nick Mutuma, has many talents. Since 2008, he has played prominent roles in television drama series, earning him widespread recognition in Kenya.

His acting, together with his work as a producer, television/radio host, model, musician, and corporate emcee, has made him one of Kenya’s richest actors. Alcott and Nivea Fresh Active both have modelling contracts with Nick. His biggest agreement to date was a global streaming collaboration with Netflix as a producer for his company. As part of their partnership, the star and the streaming giant worked together to distribute “Disconnect” and “Sincerely Daisy” on their service.

19. Jeff Koinange 

One of Kenya’s most seasoned TV hosts is the award-winning journalist Jeff Koinange. Since the late 1980s, he has worked as a journalist on a national and international scale. He began working with Kenya’s first independent television station, KTN, in 1987 and continued there until 1989.

From 1995 to 2001, Koinange worked for Reuters Television, where he covered African news. He joined NBC News and ABC News after leaving Reuters. He reported on the famine in Niger, the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars, and the Darfur crisis for CNN in the USA. In 2007, he left CNN to work as a news anchor at K24 and host of the Capital Talk Show. Koinange hosted Jeff Koinange Live after leaving K24 and joining KTN. He only stayed at KTN for a little time before joining Citizen TV. He currently anchors the political programme JKLive for Citizen TV.

20. Anne Kiguta 

One of Kenya’s top English-language newsreaders is Anne Kiguta. She began her career in journalism in 2003 and has since hosted chat shows and served as a news anchor. Kiguta was a producer and host of shows at Hope FM prior to working as a TV host. Political and current affairs reporting is Kiguta’s area of expertise.

She has hosted political programmes on nearly every major Kenyan television network, including KTN, Citizen TV, and K24. One of the most popular political TV programmes, Punchline on K24, was anchored by Anne Kiguta till February 2021.