Did you know that to be a president in Kenya you first need to marry a teacher! This is a trait that four of the most powerful men in Kenya share today.
The three, First Lady Margaret Wanjiru Kenyatta, Rachel Chebet Ruto and Ida Betty Anyango Odinga are all qualified graduate teachers! Throw in the late Lucy Kibaki and you have a winning team.
These women have shaped the politics of their spouses in one way or the other and in their own right curved a legacy behind the most powerful men in Kenya
Despite teaching in various parts of the country, some have however had to contend with puting their careers on hold as the political lives of their husbands took centre stage.
Ida Odinga
Ida Odinga, wife to the enigma of Kenyan politics Raila Odinga was born in in 1950.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nairobi in 1974.It was here that he met Odinga who was then teaching at the department of Engineering.
She taught for over 20 years before being hounded out of Kenya High School after Odinga was detained.
The incarceration of her husband brought a halt to her teaching career as she concentrated more in raising her family while Odinga was in detention.
Margaret Wanjiru Kenyatta
The First Lady, wife to the 4th president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, was born in 1964.
She went to the prestigious St Andrews School in Molo, where she met her husband.
Margaret later enrolled as an undergraduate student at Kenyatta University for a degree in Education.
The First Lady is regarded as a very instrumental pillar in Kenyatta’s presidency and her resolve to reduce the child and mother mortality through the Beyond Zero campaign has earned her accolades worldwide.
Rachel Ruto
Rachel, the wife of the Deputy president William Ruto, was born in 1968 in Lukuyani, Kakamega County.
She attended Butere Girls High School then proceeded to Kenyatta University for a degree in education.
She however chose to be a stay at home mom after getting married to Deputy President William Ruto soon after graduation.
Lucy Muthoni Kibaki
Lucy Muthoni was born in 1936.
She was educated at Alliance Girls High School, then trained as a teacher, working first at Kamwenja Teachers College and later at Kambui College in Kiambu, where she rose to the post of principal.
She met Mwai Kibaki in 1959.
After a two-year romance, the couple married in 1961, with Lucy quitting her teaching career in 1963.
