Recently, many Kenyan women have risen across different fields, including business, effectively making their mark worldwide.
2022 saw more Kenyan women making history both locally and internationally.
Below is a list of five Kenyan women who made history in 2022, as compiled by Kenyans.co.ke.
Ruth Karauri
In February, a video of a Kenya Airways aeroplane touching down flawlessly at Heathrow Airport, London, amid the raging winds of Storm Eunice stunned the world.
Inside the cockpit of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was Captain Ruth Karauri, a Kenyan pilot and wife to Kasarani, Member of Parliament (MP) Ronald Karauri.
Most pilots had struggled with the heavy crosswinds that threatened to push other 172-tonne planes off the runway, but Karauri did not sweat.
"The training we have had at Kenya Airways, particularly in the simulator, prepared us for such a scenario. We used all our expertise and skills as we handled the landing expertly," she later explained.
Karauri gained admiration locally and internationally with the video of the landing circulating on social media, and many people hailed her as a real-life superwoman.
Martha Karua
In 2022, Karua made history when she was named Raila Odinga's running mate in the August 2022 General Election.
Karua beat 10 other contenders, including Wiper party leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, to the role.
"My dear comrades, cometh the hour, cometh the woman, I have picked as my running mate, and Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the Honourable Martha Wangari Karua," Raila declared at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) on May 16.
The duo went up against an all-male alliance of then Deputy President William Ruto and Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
However, Raila and Karua lost the election by about 200,000 votes, a defeat they unsuccessfully challenged in court.
Kawira Mwangaza
Kawira Mwangaza turned political heads when she was declared the winner of the Meru gubernatorial election during the August 9 polls.
She became the first woman to be elected Mery county chief on an independent ticket and the first bishop to win a gubernatorial race.
Mwangaza floored bigwigs, including his successor Kiraitu Murungi and then Senator Mithika Linturi, effectively surviving United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) yellow wave that swept the Mount Kenya region.
"It is a day of wonders, and I thank my Deputy governor-elect, Isaac Mutuma, who has made this journey come true and not to forget my husband, Baicu Murega.
"I want to promise you that Meru will be the best county. I also promise you sustainable development because we shall deliver," Kawira stated after her win.
Mwangaza, was, however, impeached on Wednesday, December 14, with MCAs citing irregular appointments, nepotism and unlawful dismissal of county officials.
The Senate will listen to her case on Tuesday, December 20.
Linet Toto
Linet 'Toto' Chepkorir entered Kenya’s history books when she was declared the Bomet woman representative-elect on August 12.
She became the youngest woman representative after being sworn into the August house.
The 24-year-old won the election by a mile, trouncing second-placed Alice Migo by over 200,000 votes. She became the symbol of youth leadership and the hustler spirit in the country.
She was also among the leaders who accompanied DP Rigathi Gachagua to Rwanda for the Africa Youth Connekt Africa Summit, where she received a standing ovation for her achievement.
"I came with one of the miracles of the country, a little young girl. She is 24 years old, the women representative of Bomet county, and a defeated, mature, experienced women.
"She is Linet 'Toto' which translates to the young one," Gachagua praised her during the summit in Rwanda.
Khadija Bajaber
Khadija Bajaber, a Kenyan author, based in the United Kingdom, wrote her name in the literature history books on October 25.
This was after she became the first fiction author to win the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize with her novel, 'The House of Rust, ' emerging top of the world.
Bajaber’s novel takes readers through the journey of a Kenyan girl, who, in the company of a supernatural cat, goes on a frantic search for her father, a fisherman.
"The novel’s structure is audacious: every scene is gleaming, arresting in its wisdom, textured and utterly devoid of cliché," the jury stated in its verdict.
Bajaber bagged Ksh3 million (USD25,000) for the award.
