Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta was born on October 26th, 1961, in Nairobi, Kenya.

He is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.

Kenyatta is the son of the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who served as Kenya’s first president.

He is married to Mama Margaret Kenyatta, who served as the first lady between 2013-2022, and they have three children: Jomo, Jaba, and Ngina.

Education background of Uhuru Kenyatta

Uhuru Kenyatta attended St. Mary’s School in Nairobi and graduated in 1979.

He later joined Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated with a degree in political science and economics.

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Uhuru’s Political Journey

He started his competitive political journey in 1997 when he vied for the Gatundu South Parliamentary seat and lost to Moses Muhia of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

After the elections, the late former president, Daniel Arap Moi, nominated him to parliament in 2001.

He later appointed him to the cabinet, serving as the Minister for Local Government.

When Moi was vacating office the following year, he picked him as his preferred successor in the 2002 general election.

However, he lost to the late Mwai Kibaki, who was declared the third president of Kenya.

After unsuccessful elections, he became the official leader of opposition until the tail end of 2007 when he opted to defect to the government to support Kibaki’s re-election.

Kibaki was again declared the winner and appointed Uhuru as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in his government.

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He later moved him to the Ministry of Finance.

He vied for the presidency in 2013 and won against Raila Odinga and was later re-elected in 2017 and won again, although elections were nullified by the Supreme Court.

His main opponent, Raila Odinga, boycotted voting the second time, and Uhuru was declared the winner and ruled until 2022.

During his tenure, Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration focused heavily on infrastructure development, completing major projects like the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and building over 11,500 km of new roads.

He also expanded TVET institutions, improved security, and bolstered Kenya’s international standing through pan-Africanism initiatives.

Uhuru Kenyatta Awards

Uhuru received numerous awards both during and after his presidency, including the African Gender Award 2022 for his work on gender equality and a World Health Organization (WHO) award in July 2025 for championing the WHO Pandemic Agreement.

He was also named East African President of the Year 2015/2016 by the Africa Education and Leadership Awards institute and received honors for promoting consensus-building and a strong economic agenda in Africa.

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Uhuru Kenyatta at past event. PHOTO/NA