Second born son of Jomo and Ngina Kenyatta. Married to Margaret Kenyatta; they have three children
BIOGRAPHY
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta completed his secondary school education at St Mary’s, Nairobi, in 1979. He then joined Amherst College, a prestigious private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, US, from 1981 to 1985 and graduated with a degree in political science and economics.
Mr Kenyatta served as the fourth president of Kenya. First elected in 2013 alongside his deputy William Ruto, he was re-elected in 2017 in a controversial poll that was nullified by the Supreme Court, forcing a repeat poll that was held on his birthday in 2017. He won and was sworn into office for his final term on November 28, 2017. After completing his term, he handed over power to his deputy, Dr William Ruto, in 2022, after the latter won the presidential election against his closes rival, Mr Raila Odinga.
His first stab at elective politics in 1997 was unsuccessful when he lost the Gatundu South Parliamentary seat to Mr Moses Muhia of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). However, former President Daniel arap Moi nominated him to parliament in 2001 and appointed him Minister for Local Government. The following year, Mr Moi controversially picked him as his preferred successor in the 2002 general election. He lost to Mwai Kibaki and he became the official leader of opposition until the tail end of 2007 when he opted defect to the government to support Mr Kibaki’s re-election.
Mr Kibaki was declared the winner of the contested poll that was followed by post-election violence. Later, Mr Kibaki and his main rival, Mr Raila Odinga, formed a grand coalition government where the former President appointed Mr Kenyatta as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. He then redeployed him to the Ministry of Finance.
