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:

1. Teacher Tabichi

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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Sara Wairimu Cohen

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.

5. Peter Ndegwa

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.

6. 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.

7. Mariam Kigenda

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.

8. Major Peter Mugure

Major Peter Mugure, stepped into the limelight in November of 2019 when he was arrested after his ex-wife, Joyce Syombua and her two children went missing shortly after visiting Peter Mugure who was based at Nanyuki’s Laikipia Airbase.

Weeks later, the bodies of the mother and her two children were discovered by a team of homicide detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) based in Nanyuki airbase in Laikipia County.

9. Andy Munyiri

Andy Munyiri from Damacrest School, Thogoto, emerged the top candidate in the 2019 KCPE results after scoring 440 marks out of 500 marks.

10. Tony Wabuko Buluma

Buluma Tony Wabuko of Kapsabet Boys High School was the talk of the nation, after he emerged the top candidate in the KCSE 2019 exams.

Tony scored a grade A with 87.1 points to emerge top of the 699,745 candidates who sat 2019’s exam between November 4 and November 27.