Margaret Kanyiri Kobia(nee Rukaria) | |
---|---|
Cabinet Secretary for the Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs | |
In office 26 January 2018 –27 October 2022 | |
President | Uhuru Kenyatta |
Preceded by | Sicily Kanini Kariuki (nee Mugo) |
Succeeded by | Aisha Katana Juma |
Personal details | |
Born | 25 June 1955 Meru County,Kenya |
Spouse | Silas Kobia Munene |
Children | Charles Munene Kobia,Joy Kagwiria Murunga (nee Kobia) &Wambui Muriuki (nee Kobia). |
Parent | Simon M'Rukaria M'Ithara &Joyce Kathure Rukaria |
Residence(s) | Nairobi,Kenya |
Education | University of Nairobi (Bachelor of Education) Kenyatta University (Master of Education) University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Doctor of Philosophy) |
Margaret Kanyiri Kobia (nee Rukaria) is a Kenyan who was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta as Cabinet Secretary for the Public Service,Youth,and Gender Affairs,on 26 January 2018. [1] Prior to her current position,she served as the chairperson of the Kenya Public Service Commission from December 2012 until January 2018. [2]
Margaret was born on June 25,1955 in present-day Meru County. Her mother was a farmer and housewife and her father was a police officer. She is the first-born in a family of seven siblings,five sisters,and two brothers. Margaret attended Mariinya-A-Ruibi Primary School. She then studied at Alliance Girls High School,which she joined in 1972,for both her O-Level and A-Level education,graduating in 1977. [3]
In 1979,she was admitted to the University of Nairobi,graduating with a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree. In 1990,she was admitted to Kenyatta University,where she obtained a Master of Education (MEd) degree,specializing in teacher education,in 1991. Later,in 2003,she graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree,in Human Resource Education and Entrepreneurship,from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,where she studied on scholarship. [2] [3]
Right after her first degree,Margaret started teaching at Ngara Girls' High School in 1981. After six years at Ngara,she joined the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) as a research officer and test developer. [3]
In 1992,Margaret was appointed Senior Lecturer in Education at Kenya Science Teachers’College. Then in 1996,she moved to Kenyatta University as the Acting Deputy Registrar and the Director of the Students’Welfare Services Board. In 2002,she was appointed Assistant Commission Secretary at the then Commission for Higher Education,now the Commission for University Education. She then returned to teaching,at Strathmore University,as a senior lecturer in management,Entrepreneurship and Research Methodology. [3]
In 2005,Kobia was appointed the director,Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA),now the Kenya School of Government,serving in that capacity until 2012,when she was appointed the chairperson of the Kenya Public Service Commission,the first Kenyan woman to serve in that position. [2] [3]
Margaret Kobia is a married mother of three children,one son and two daughters. [4]
Professor Margaret Kobia has received a number of awards,including the "Order of Grand Warrior" (OGW),the Order of "Chief of Burning Spear" (CBS) and the "Commonwealth Gordon Draper Award". She was elected as the Vice President and board member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM),in October 2014. She is a fellow at the Kenya Institute of Management and at the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya. [2]
Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi,Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985,being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014,it was one of 23 public universities in the country.
Geoffrey William Griffin OBE was the founding director of Starehe Boys' Centre and School in Kenya. He founded the centre in November,1959 with the help of Geoffrey Gatama Geturo and Joseph Kamiru Gikubu. He was director of the centre from its founding to his death in 2005. He was also the founding director of the National Youth Service between 1964 and 1988.
Margaret Atieno Ogola was a Kenyan Catholic novelist who wrote The River and the Source and its sequel,I Swear by Apollo.
Ngara Girls' High School is a girls' secondary boarding school in Nairobi,Kenya.
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. She was thereafter appointed as a Commissioner with the Electoral Commission of Kenya from 1992 to 2002.
Professor Leah Marangu is a Kenyan academic. She was born in South Imenti, Meru County,Kenya. She is considered to be one of Kenya's most distinguished and decorated scholars.
The Kenya High School is a public girls' high school located on Mandera Road in the upmarket Kileleshwa Ward and suburb of Dagoretti North Sub-County in Kenya's capital city,Nairobi.
Anne Mumbi Waiguru,EGH,is the second Governor of Kirinyaga County in Kenya,who has been in office since 22 August 2017.
Judi Wangalwa Wakhungu is a Kenyan politician,diplomat,and geologist who was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta as ambassador to France on 26 January 2018. Immediately prior to her present position,she served as the cabinet secretary for environment and regional development authorities from 25 April 2013 until 17 January 2018.
Olive Mwihaki Mugenda is a Kenyan academic,researcher and academic administrator. She is currently the chairperson board of directors at the Kenyatta University Teaching,Referral and Research Hospital,a leading national referral hospital. She was appointed vice chancellor of Kenyatta University one of the 31 public universities in Kenya,in 2006,the first woman to lead a public university in the African Great Lakes area,and served in that position until 20 March 2016.
Lily Chepkorir Koros Tare is a Kenyan medical administrator,who serves as Administration Secretary in the Kenya Ministry of Health,effective December 2018.
Philomena Mbete Mwilu is a Kenyan lawyer and judge,who has served as the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya since 28 October 2016. Following the retirement of Chief Justice David Maraga,and before Martha Koome was appointed as the Chief Justice,she served as Acting Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya from 11 January 2021 to 19 May 2021,making her the first woman to hold that office.
George Albert Omore Magoha was a Kenyan consultant surgeon,academic administrator and technocrat,who served as a Professor of Surgery at Maseno University's School of Medicine,in Kisumu County as from 17 January 2023 till his death.
Farida Karoney is a Kenyan who was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta as Cabinet Secretary for Lands,on 26 January 2018. Immediately prior to her present position,she served as the chief operating officer (COO) of the Royal Media Services (RMS),a media conglomerate that includes radio and television stations. Before that,she served as the Group Editorial Director at RMS.
Susane Nabulindo Masakhwe is a Kenyan consultant anesthesiologist at the Kenyatta National Referral Hospital. Her specialty is pediatric anesthesiology,a specialty where,in 2014,there were only five qualified Kenyans in the field. She is one of a very small number of female pediatric anesthesiologists in the country. She also concurrently serves as a lecturer in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Nairobi,Kenya's largest public university.
Professor Laban Ayiro is a Kenyan academic,currently serving as the Vice Chancellor of Daystar University,a Christian,liberal arts university based in Nairobi,the capital and largest city of Kenya.
Eva Wangechi Mubia Njenga,is a Kenyan consultant physician and endocrinologist,who serves as the Chairperson of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board,the professional body that regulates medical doctors and dentists practicing in the country. She was appointed to that position on 10 April 2019,being the first female in the history of Kenya,to serve in that role.
Cecilia Wangechi Mwathi was a Kenyan mathematician and union activist. She was the first woman in Kenya to become a mathematics professor,and was known both for her activism for higher education and for inspiring Kenyan girls to study science,technology,and mathematics.
Juliana Whonge Cherera was the Vice Chair at Kenya's Electoral agency IEBC until her resignation on 5th Dec 2022. She became a public subject in Kenya in mid-August 2022 after leading three other commissioners Francis Wanderi,Irene Masit,and Justus Nyang’aya in disowning the 2022 Kenyan general election results read out by Chair Wafula Chebukati terming them to be 'opaque'. The Cherera Four were Dissenting Members. They had a right under Article 17 to request a postponement of the announcement of the results,given that the commission was still within the legal time limits. Commonly referred to as The Cherera Four,history will record that they saw themselves as referees who just wanted the right things to be done right and hence earned no friends on either side of the political divide.
Peninah Malonza,OGW,is a Kenyan politician who served as the Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of EAC,Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development,in the Cabinet of Kenya,and Ex Officio Member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) effective 5 October 2023 to July 11,2024. She was dismissed from the cabinet in July 2024. Prior to this appointment,from 27 September 2022 until 4 October 2023,she served as the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism,Wildlife and Heritage,the President of the 13th Governing Council of the Parties to Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora as well as the Vice Chairperson of World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Commission for Africa (CAF).
Simon M'Rukaria M'Ithara Obituary.