Nyiva Mwendwa
{{Short description|Kenyan politician}}
{{Use Kenyan English|date=January 2023}}
Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa is a Kenyan politician. She was the first Kenyan woman to serve as a cabinet minister.
Early life and education
She was educated at Alliance Girls High School,{{cite web |url=http://www.alliancegirlshigh.com/content.php?pid=26 |title=Alliance Girls High School: Historical Perspectives |publisher=Alliancegirlshigh.com |date=1948-02-28 |accessdate=2011-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903190606/http://www.alliancegirlshigh.com/content.php?pid=26 |archive-date=2011-09-03 |url-status=dead }} and was one of the first ethnic African teachers to be posted to The Kenya High School in the mid-1960s, teaching Domestic Science. She was elected for the post of Kitui West Constituency MP three times, in 1974 and 1992 representing KANU and in 2002 representing NARC.Center for Multiparty Democracy: [http://www.cmd.or.ke/images/Politics%20and%20Paliamenterians%20in%20Kenya.pdf Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028212845/http://www.cmd.or.ke/images/Politics%20and%20Paliamenterians%20in%20Kenya.pdf |date=2008-10-28 }} At the 2007 elections she contested the seat on the ODM-Kenya ticket, but lost to Charles Mutisya Nyamai.{{cite web|url=http://www.communication.go.ke/elections/constituency.asp?ID=64|title=Parliamentary election results 2007 - Kitui West|publisher=|accessdate=9 July 2017}} She was elected the first Kitui County woman representative in the 2013 Kitui local elections on a Wiper Democratic Movement-Kenya (WDM-K) ticket.{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/woman-of-firsts-and-style-/957860-1896084-iu4a4k/index.html|title=Woman of firsts and style|publisher=|accessdate=9 July 2017}} In 2016, she announced her intention to retire from active politics 40 years since her debut.{{cite web|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000187771/kitui-woman-rep-nyiva-mwendwa-retires-from-politics|title=Kitui Woman Rep Nyiva Mwendwa retires from politics|first=Paul|last=Mutua|publisher=|accessdate=9 July 2017}}
Political life
Mwendwa was appointed the Minister for Culture and Social Services on May 9, 1995, becoming the first female minister in Kenya.The Power of the Media - A Handbook for Peacebuilders: [http://www.gppac.net/documents/Media_book_nieuw/p2_9_kenya.htm Kenya - Gender and Conflict Media Projects] Edited by Ross Howard, Francis Rolt, Hans van de Veen and Juliette Verhoeven
She caused a national disfavour in 1995 when she travelled to women’s conference in Beijing in 1995 and took a hairdresser as a part of her delegation. Mwendwa herself defended the decision by stating that being a delegation leader, she must take care of her appearance.The Standard, October 23, 2008: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20230616064115/http://www.eastandard.net/specialreports/InsidePage.php?id=1143997645 Nyiva Mwendwa: Never give in to despair]}}
Her husband Kitili Maluki Mwendwa was Kenyan chief justice and politician. Kitili Mwendwa died in a traffic accident in 1985. He was at the time the Kitui West MP, his seat was taken at the subsequent by-election by his brother Kyale Mwendwa. His other brother, Eliud Ngala Mwendwa is also a former Kenyan minister.David Throup & Charles Hornsby: [https://books.google.com/books?id=L_UYruQyn54C&dq=mwendwa&pg=PA210 Multi-party Politics in Kenya] James Currey Publishers, 1998 {{ISBN|0-85255-804-X}}
She lives in Matinyani village in Kitui District. Nyiva Mwendwa has two children, Kavinya and Maluki.
Awards
She was awarded with [http://gender.go.ke/hon-winfred-nyiva-mwendwa-egh/ The Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya],{{Cite web|last=genderadmin|title=Hon. Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa EGH|url=http://gender.go.ke/hon-winfred-nyiva-mwendwa-egh/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=State Department for Gender|language=en-US}} 2nd Class, [https://www.identifymedals.com/article/kenyan-presidential-awards-orders-and-medals/ Elder of the Golden Heart] (EGH)
References
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Category:Kenya African National Union politicians
Category:National Rainbow Coalition politicians
Category:Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya politicians
Category:Members of the National Assembly (Kenya)
Category:Government ministers of Kenya
Category:Women government ministers of Kenya
Category:Alumni of Alliance Girls High School
Category:People from Kitui County
Category:20th-century Kenyan women politicians
Category:20th-century Kenyan politicians
Category:21st-century Kenyan women politicians