Margaret Wambui Kenyatta was a Kenyan politician. She was the daughter of the first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, and his wife Grace Wahu. She served as the Mayor of Nairobi from 1970 to 1976 and as Kenya's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1976 to 1986.
Background
Margaret Kenyatta was born in the Dagoretti area of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, to Jomo Kenyatta, a political activist who later became Kenya's first president, and his first wife Grace Wahu. She was one of two children born to Kenyatta and Wahu, after elder brother Peter Muigai. Her parents separated when Kenyatta went to live in London in 1929, remaining there until 1947. Kenyatta remarried twice, giving Margaret several younger half brothers and sisters, including the current President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.
During Margaret's childhood, her father was a popular figure locally and frequently attracted groups of supporters who came to gather at his house. He frequently engaged with these crowds, and involved Margaret too: "I often used to make him play with me and he held me up in front of the people and they all laughed."
Education
Educated in Kiambu and at the Alliance High School, Kikuyu she went on to teach at the Kenya Teachers College in Githunguri, run by her father and Mbiyu Koinange, to provide teachers for the independent Kikuyu schools. This was closed in 1952 by the government which was suspicious of its political functions. Margaret was then without a proper job during the emergency period.
Career
In 1963 she was first elected councillor representing the Dagoretti area in Nairobi City Council and in 1969 she became deputy mayor. By August 1970 her years of social work and personal effort were rewarded by being elected unopposed as the first woman mayor of Nairobi. She has since been particularly interested in the administration of the city’s public health programme.
Politics
On the formation of the Kenya African National Union in 1960 she worked for the party at the Kiambu branch and became a county councillor in Kiambu district.
She was also a prominent member of the Red Cross, YWCA, Girl Guides, Kenya National Council of Social Services, and the National Council of Kenya Women, holding the presidency for three years, and was on the board of governors of numerous secondary schools in the country.