Ndigwako Bertha Akim Kingori (19 November 1930 – 4 November 2013) was a Tanzanian educator and politician. She was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1957.

Biography

Kingori was born in

Tukuyu Tukuyu, known as Neu Langenburg during the German colonial rule, is a small hillside town that lies about south of the city of Mbeya, at an elevation of around in the highland Rungwe District of southern Tanzania, East Africa. Tukuyu town has ...

in November 1930 to Subila Kabonga and Akim Mwakosya. One of the few girls from her village to attend school, she was educated at Tabora Girls’ School and then the

Gayaza High School Gayaza High School is the oldest all-girls boarding secondary school covering grades 8 to 13 (Secondary 1 to 6) in Uganda. The school is Church-founded, government-aided and accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports ...

and

King's College Budo King’s College Budo is a mixed, residential, secondary school in Central Uganda (Buganda). Location The school is located on Naggalabi Hill, in southern Wakiso District, off the Kampala-Masaka Road. This location lies approximately , by road, ...

boarding schools in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. In 1954 she began studying at

Makerere College Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

under a government scholarship, earning a diploma in education. Returning to Tanganyika, Kingori worked as a teacher at Loleza Girls' School in

Mbeya Mbeya is a city located in south west Tanzania, Africa. Mbeya's urban population is 620,000 according to the 2022 census. Mbeya is the capital of the surrounding rural Mbeya region (population, with Mbeya, totals approx. 2 million). Mbeya is sit ...

. She attended

in Uganda during the 1950s under a government scholarship.Bertha Akim Kingori '57
McCulloch Centre for Global Initiatives During her studies she also helped at children's clinics in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. In 1956 she was awarded a Van Leer and Atlanta Fellowship, resulting in her studying at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for a year. Returning to Tanganyika, she taught at teacher training colleges in Butimba and

Mpwapwa Mpwapwa is a market town, in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. It is the district capital of Mpwapwa District. According to the 2012 Tanzania National Census, the population of Mpwapwa ( Mpwapwa Mjini ward) was 21,337. Overview It is one of the old ...

and became headmistress of Bwiru Girls' Secondary School in

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest cit ...

. She was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1957.Balghis Badri & Aili Mari Tripp (2017)
Women's Activism in Africa: Struggles for Rights and Representation
', p119 The following year she married Peter Gathura Kingori, with whom she had five children. In 1965 she was appointed to the East African University Council. In 1967 she was appointed executive secretary of the Umoja Wa Wanawake Wa Tanzania women's organisation. A member of the National Christian Council of Kenya, she was the first African woman to be appointed to the

Anglican Consultative Council The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The council, which includes Anglican bishops, other clergy, and laity ...

in 1973. She died in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in November 2013 and was buried at Mwalimu King’ori Farm in

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...

.The passing of a leading activist
The Citizen, 28 November 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingori, Bertha 1930 births Mount Holyoke College alumni Makerere University alumni Tanzanian schoolteachers Members of the Legislative Council of Tanganyika 20th-century Tanzanian women politicians 2013 deaths