The women who shaped Kenya’s political and social history Profiles of about 70 women offer a powerful record of how women challenged barriers and advanced equality across generations. Gender 5 hours ago

Additionally, the inclusion of veteran scholars such as Prof Florida Karani, the first female deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Nairobi, Prof Miriam Were, an eminent public health scholar, and Prof Margaret Kobia, an accomplished academician and renowned public sector reformer, would have offered a more comprehensive account of women whose leadership helped to steer higher education and civil service in Kenya.

The publication highlights her remarkable journey from becoming the first woman in Kenya to earn a PhD in veterinary anatomy from the University of Nairobi in 1971 to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering work in environmental conservation, sustainable development, and social justice.

However, it is worth pointing out that it missed out on some other distinguished women leaders such as Margaret Githinji, the first female permanent secretary in 1987; Dr Mary Okello, a pioneer banker and celebrated educationist and entrepreneur; Prof Micere Mugo, an acclaimed literature scholar and one of the forerunners in the struggle for academic and political freedoms in the 1970s; and renowned literary authors such as Marjorie Oludhe MacGoye and Asenath Bole Odaga, whose contributions greatly shaped Kenya’s literature.