Peter Mbiyu Koinange (1907 – 3 September 1981) was a politician from

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

. He served in the government and cabinet of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, for 16 years. During this time, he held the post of member of parliament for the Kiambaa constituency and the portfolios of Minister of State for Education, External Affairs, Pan-African Affairs, as well as Minister of State in the Office of the President.

Family

Born Mbiyu wa Koinange in 1907 in Njunu,

Kiambu District Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika. Kiambu County is the second most populous after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kajiado Counties to the S ...

he was the eldest son of

Koinange Wa Mbiyu Koinange wa Mbiyu (1865–1960) was a Kikuyu chief. Koinange played a stifling role in Kenya's fight for independence movement. He was a paramount chief who helped the Colonial powers to suppress Africans that were fighting for the independence. ...

, a prominent

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: * Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...

chief during Kenya's colonial period, and Wairimu, the chief's

great wife Great Wife, otherwise appearing in West Africa as Senior Wife, is an honorific applied to contemporary royal and aristocratic consorts in states throughout modern Africa (e.g., Mantfombi Dlamini of eSwatini, who once served as the chief consort of ...

. He was one of seven children, with another six siblings who died either at birth or early on in their childhood. His elder sister, Isabella, was one of Kenya's first trained African nurses, while his younger brother, Charles Karuga Koinange, served as a colonial chief and was a civil servant in independent

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

for more than 30 years. He was also brother to Grace Wanjiku, Jomo Kenyatta's third wife.

Education

Mbiyu Koinange moved to the United States in 1927 for studying. He attended

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where he graduated in 1931. Koinange then started at Ohio Wesleyan University in

Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio ...

in 1931, completing a four-year bachelor's degree in 1935. From Ohio, Koinange then received a one-year postgraduate certificate in education from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1936. Mbiyu Koinange then spent a year at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, St. John's College as a Rhodes Scholar, followed by a year at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Institute of Education before returning to

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

in 1939. He was the first Kenyan African to hold a postgraduate degree.

Early career

Upon his return to return to Kenya and in consultation with his father,

, Mbiyu Koinange decided to create an African-run, community owned college, modeled on his alma mater

and on

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

. Mbiyu Koinange was the principal of this Kenya Teachers College situated at Githunguri, the site of the first independent elementary school founded by Musa Ndirangu. The KTC's objective was to train teachers for the Kikuyu Independent Schools Association (KISA) and the Kikuyu Karinga Education Authority (KKEA), founded in 1929, and to increase their independence from missionary training centres. In 1952, just as a state of emergency was decreed in Kenya and the Kapenguria Six and many others, notably associated with the KTC, were arrested, Mbuyi Koinange was in England representing the Kenya African Union, thus narrowly escaping arrest himself. Following the proscription of the KISA and KKEA schools in late 1952, Mbiyu Koinange remained in England, returning ten years later as the secretary of the Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and South Africa.

Political career

He was the Kiambaa Constituency MP from 1963 to 1979 when Njenga Karume was elected the Kiambaa MP. During this 16-year tenure, Mbiyu Koinange served in several roles including Minister of State for

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement ext ...

Affairs,

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

,Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ABOUT THE MINISTRY
Minister of Education. For the majority of his tenure, Peter Mbiyu served as Minister of State in the Office of the President (1966–79).

Publications

* ''The People of Kenya Speak for Themselves'' (1955), Detroit: Kenya Publishing House :This book was endorsed by

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are i ...

Grace Lee Boggs Grace Lee Boggs (June 27, 1915 – October 5, 2015) was an American author, social activist, philosopher, and feminist. She is known for her years of political collaboration with C. L. R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya in the 1940s and 1950s. In th ...

and

Cornelius Castoriadis Cornelius Castoriadis ( el, Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης; 11 March 1922 – 26 December 1997) was a Greek-FrenchMemos 2014, p. 18: "he was ... granted full French citizenship in 1970." philosopher, social critic, economist, ps ...

in their book ''

Facing Reality {{Short description, 1960's Radical Left Group Facing Reality was a radical left group in the United States that existed from about 1962 until 1970. History Facing Reality originated in the Johnson-Forest Tendency led by C. L. R. James and Raya ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koinange, Mbiyu 1981 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) Government ministers of Kenya 1907 births People from Kiambu County Kikuyu people