President Uhuru Kenyatta is among high-ranking Kenyans whose achievements are in the Guinness World Records.
Kenyans have made it to the world-recognized records for shattering Olympic records, setting punitive penalties, covering vast hours of non-stop cooking as well as just living their lives.
Here are Kenyans who hold records in the Guinness World of Records book.
1. Uhuru penalty on plastic bags.
In 2017, Kenyatta signed into law environmental protection regulations that announced a ban on single-use plastic bags which earned him praise across the globe.
What caught the eye of the Guinness World Records was the penalty that was imposed on those caught flouting the directive.
With maximum fines of up to Ksh4 million or four years in jail for manufacturers, importers and distributors of single-use plastic bags (or a one-year prison sentence for using the banned bags). Kenya currently has arguably the most stringent laws around single-use plastic bags in the world.
The legislation was introduced on 28 August 2017 in response to demand from local activist groups and global agencies such as the UN Environment Programme to tackle the widespread problem of plastic bags contaminating the environment.
It's postulated that prior to the ban that around 300 million plastic bags a year were distributed in Kenya (a third of which by supermarkets alone), many of which ended up as litter, chocking the environment.
2. Oldest Man who joined Primary School at 84
In 2004, Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge held the record for being the world's oldest person to start primary school at age 84.
Maruge was enrolled in Standard One at Kapkenduiyo Primary School, Eldoret, Kenya.
He wore the school uniform and hoped to reach Standard Eight. On 6 April 2004, it was reported that Ng'ang'a passed his first end-of-term exams with straight A's in English, Kiswahili and Math, making him among the top five students in the class. The headmistress, Jane Obinchu made him a senior head boy as a reward.
He passed away on 15 August 2009, aged 90.
3. Kenyan Chef Who cooked for hours
In August 2019, a Kenyan Chef, based in Mombasa broke the world record in a cooking competition.
Chef Maliha Mohammed broke the Guinness World Record after cooking continuously for the longest time.
Maliha set a new record by cooking for 75hrs non-stop beating the then 68 hours record.
Mohammed began her quest to have her name immortalized in the Guinness World Records May 2019, finally succeeding after three months.
The 36-year-old from Mombasa dethrone record holder Rickey Lumpkin of California, USA, who cooked for 68 hours 30 minutes and one second in December 2018.
4. Numerous Athletes with marathon records
In this category, the retired athlete Tegla Lorupe currently holds three world records.
Loroupe holds the record for the best time in the 20,000 metres run in the year 2000, fastest 25,000 metres run in 2002 and a record time in the 30,000 metres race in 2003.
Another accomplished athlete who has made it to the Guinness hall of fame is Paul Tergat in 2003 for the fastest marathon at 2hr 04min 55sec.
Other athletes who have broken the world record include Daniel Komen in 1998 for the fastest time in the 3,000 metre race, Paul Kosgei for the fastest 25 km run in 2004, the Kenyan 800m relay team (William Yampoy, Wilfred Bungei, Joseph Mutua and Ismael Kombich) in 2006 for the fastest time, Hillary Kimaiyo for the World's fastest 10 kilometre race in 2007 and Samuel Wanjiru for the fastest half marathon in 2007.
Honourable mention
President Uhuru Kenyatta was also, in 2013, mentioned by the Guinness World Records as the youngest President Kenya has ever had when he was sworn in.
Uhuru was sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at a stadium in the capital of Nairobi.
He was aged 51 years at the time when he became the country's fourth president after winning the election with 50.07% of the vote.
