In Kenya, the family of the country’s founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, remains one of the most powerful and influential in both politics and business ventures.
Having produced Kenya’s first president and later the fourth president, Uhuru Kenyatta, the family has long maintained close relationships with other families over the years.
One family many may not be aware of that enjoys close ties with the Kenyattas is the Wamalwa family, which has also been in leadership for decades.
From William Wamalwa, an influential MP, to his son, Vice President Kijana Wamalwa, and later Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, the family has had its fair share of prominence in Kenya’s political scene.
With these two families having been on the scene for years, they share close ties. How did this happen, despite the Kenyatta family being from Central Kenya and the Wamalwa family from the Western region?
In this piece, Times Digital Kenya takes a closer look at the close relationship between these two families.
Political Ties
The relationship between the two families dates back to the time of Jomo Kenyatta as President of Kenya, when he worked closely with William Wamalwa. At the time, Wamalwa served as a chief in the Western region before later becoming a senator.
As such one of the that two families is Generational Political Ties which has until in the recent past. With this, saw Eugene Wamalwa appointed by Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Wamalwa to his cabinet, where he served during both of his five-year terms.
In a past interview, former Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa revealed that the Kenyatta and Wamalwa families had a very close relationship even before Uhuru Kenyatta became president.
He also revealed that his elder brother, the late Kijana Wamalwa, was on the brink of being Uhuru Kenyatta’s running mate in 2002, but circumstances forced him to deputise Mwai Kibaki, who went on to win the election.
Kinship Ties
The relationship between the Kenyatta and Wamalwa families goes beyond politics, as the two also share strong kinship ties.
This is through William Wamalwa’s son, the late Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa, who married Gathoni Mungai, the daughter of Njoroge Mungai, a cousin and close confidant of Jomo Kenyatta.
“Gathoni was Dr Njoroge Mungai’s daughter, and the likes of Beth Mugo and Ngengi Muigai—you know their relationship with the Kenyattas. Through that, we had very close ties and friendships,” Eugene Wamalwa said in a past interview with Daily Nation.
