Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana and his wife Nazi Kivutha, according to The Standard in 2016, first met in 1973 through a shared love for drama.
Kivutha reportedly loved theatre and Nazi at the time had won the best actress award during the secondary schools drama festival.
Kibwana is a professor of Law while Nazi is a Counseling Psychologist by profession and the Patron of the Kenya Counsellors and Psychologists Association (KCPA), Makueni County Chapter.
Away from her roles as the first lady of Makueni, she is well known for her work through an NGO identified as the Shina Foundation which she founded in 2013.
According to the organization's website, Shina Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that focuses on three main areas: health, education, and empowerment.
The foundation describes its activities as including advocacy on family planning, contributes to literacy in schools and the community, promotes the education of boys and girls, empowers adolescents and young men and women, and enhances the emotional well-being of Kenyan citizens.
Shina Foundation is a champion of the Beyond Zero Campaign in the Ukambani region, having participated in the First Lady’s Half Marathon to raise funds for the revolutionary campaign.
Among some of the activities that Nazi has undertaken through her foundation include the provision of sanitary products to schoolgirls, jigger eradication and various other educational programs.
She has also partnered with other county leaders, county first ladies, and other interested organisations to launch a war against diseases such as cancer, to increase awareness on family planning and reproductive and mental health.
Governor Kibwana, speaking to The Standard newspaper in 2016, revealed that after their marriage, they had tough years given his active participation in politics in the 80s and 90s.
At the time, Kivutha described himself as a notable general in the fight for multiparty democracy while at the same time a professor of law at the University of Nairobi.
While he stated that he lost so much time in the streets more than in the house, he revealed that he was forever indebted to her for the patience that she had towards him.
“I am amazed at how calm Nazi remained during those tough days. She could have asked me to stop. She could have said, ‘leave this’. But she never once did. I give her credit for that. I am indebted to her. And I often feel guilty when I can’t spend quality time with her,” he gushed.
