13 Facts About Mbiyu Koinange

Peter Mbiyu Koinange was a politician from Kenya.

Mbiyu Koinange served in the government and cabinet of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, for 16 years.

Mbiyu Koinange was one of seven children, with another six siblings who died either at birth or early on in their childhood.

Mbiyu Koinange's elder sister, Isabella, was one of Kenya's first trained African nurses, while his younger brother, Charles Karuga Koinange, served as a colonial chief and was a civil servant in independent Kenya for more than 30 years.

Mbiyu Koinange was brother to Grace Wanjiku, Jomo Kenyatta's third wife.

Mbiyu Koinange moved to the United States in 1927 for studying.

Mbiyu Koinange attended Hampton Institute in Virginia, where he graduated in 1931.

From Ohio, Mbiyu Koinange then received a one-year postgraduate certificate in education from Columbia University in 1936.

Mbiyu Koinange then spent a year at the University of Cambridge, St John's College as a Rhodes Scholar, followed by a year at the University of London Institute of Education before returning to Kenya in 1939.

Mbiyu Koinange was the first Kenyan African to hold a postgraduate degree.

Mbiyu Koinange was the principal of this Kenya Teachers College situated at Githunguri, the site of the first independent elementary school founded by Musa Ndirangu.

In 1952, just as a state of emergency was decreed in Kenya and the Kapenguria Six and many others, notably associated with the KTC, were arrested, Mbuyi Mbiyu Koinange was in England representing the Kenya African Union, thus narrowly escaping arrest himself.

Mbiyu Koinange was the Kiambaa Constituency MP from 1963 to 1979 when Njenga Karume was elected the Kiambaa MP.