10 Kenyans Whose Circumstances Placed them in the Limelight in 2019
2019 was a year full of events and headlines, and more specifically, people who we had no clue about stepped into the limelight and made top stories across major media outlets.
Soko Directory will take you down memory lane and remind you of Kenyans whose circumstances, good and bad, placed them in the limelight in the year ended 2019:
Peter Mokaya Tabichi made headlines in Kenya and all over the world after he emerged the first African tutor to win the coveted Global Teacher Award.
The mathematics and Physics teacher at Keriko Secondary School in Nakuru County received the 100 million shillings prize and the Global Best Teacher Award in a colorful ceremony in Dubai.
He later went on to meet US President, Donald Trump at the White House, where he was showered with praises for his exemplary work.
- Ann Mwangi Mvurya
Ann Mwangi Mvurya first hit the headlines after she was elected as the University of Nairobi student association (UNSA), and becoming the first female student to hold the seat.
Elected on 7th April 2019, she replaced Mr. Antony Manyara who had been the chairman of the association since 2018.
Later on, Ms Mvurya was linked to Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, where local Newspaper, The Nairobian alleged that the two were romantically involved.
- Wendy Waeni
Renowned gymnast, Wendy Waeni, first stepped into the limelight after being featured on several media outlets, after meeting Rwandese President Paul Kagame.
Later on, she was the talk of the nation after she and her mother went on social media and media outlets to accuse Waeni’s manager, Joe Mwangi of only forwarding a small percentage of Waeni’s earnings to her mother.
When news about the death of Dutch business tycoon, Tob Cohen, hit the headlines in 2019, Sara Wairimu Cohen, the wife to the businessman quickly stepped to the limelight.
Sara Wairimu was later arrested after Tob cohen’s body was found in a septic tank and was charged with murder.
She was later released on a 4 million shillings bond and two sureties with an alternative of 2-million-shilling bail.
Peter Ndegwa made headlines after he became the first Kenyan to be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer to Safaricom, following the demise of Bob Collymore.
Mr. Ndegwa is set to start his term in April 1, 2020.
- Brigid Kosgei
Brigid Jepscheschir Kosgei made news after she won the 2019 Chicago and London Marathon.
She is the current marathon world record holder for women running in a mixed-sex race, with a time of 2:14:04 achieved on 13 October 2019 at the Chicago Marathon.
In September 2019, when a car sank at the Likoni Ferry Channel, a mother and her daughter succumbed following the incident.
The two occupants were later identified as Mariam Kigenda, 35 years of age and her 4-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu.
Kenyans were outraged that days after the car sank in the Indian ocean, the two bodies were yet to be recovered.