Growing up as a politician’s child not only puts you in the limelight but also comes with massive expectations from the public.
Many expect the children to follow in their parent’s footsteps or excel more.
A number of the children have spoken out about the pressure to grow up under public scrutiny and the stereotypes that come with it.
However, some have managed to crawl out of their parent’s and family’s shadows to make a name for themselves by creating multi-million ventures that have left a mark on Kenyan society.
Ngina Kenyatta with her siblings. 1. Osumo Brad
His father is the immediate former MP of Suna West Constituency, Joseph Obiero Ndiege. Osumo luanched his hotel, Big Fish, in August 2018 with his siblings and they have since unveiled two more locations.
Big Fish has a branch in Garden Estate, started with an initial investment of Ksh30,000.
On December 21, 2019, Osumo while operating at the small business premise, tweeted a joke that gained traction.
Initially, their target clientele was the informal sector “Jua-Kali” working in the area who ate lunch during work breaks.
So far they have three outlets with the latest one being at Churchroad, Westlands launched in July 2021. His sister is also famous for blending juices.
Nelson Havi(L) and Osumo Brad(R) In Westlands BigFish Resturant. : Twitter. 2. Ngina Kenyatta
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s daughter, Ngina Kenyatta, has managed to keep her life away from the limelight. She, however, prefers to grace private and public events on a few occasions.
Ngina wears many caps as a mother, wife as well as a director at The Kenyatta Trust, which offers education scholarships to underprivileged youth.
Ngina is vocal about her desire to see Kenyan children receive quality education after completing primary school.
She also runs a high-end restaurant in Lari, Kiambu county, launched on May 5, 2018.
The venture is christened the Green Experience, located at the family’s tea estate in Lari. This was, reportedly, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s residential home in the ’80s.
3. Rodgers Kipembe
Kipembe is the son of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Mpuru Aburi. Kipembe is one of the renowned people on social media.
Mpuru shares his lifestyle on social media and he is said to own at least 18 high-end cars including a Porsche Cayenne, Land Rover Discovery, Toyota V8, 3 Range Rovers, and 6 Mercedes Benz among others.
His first business was a car wash he set up in South B after graduating. Kipembe also owns a salvage yard called Rodgers Place along Bunyala Road.
The yard sits on a one-acre piece of land and accommodates over 200 wrecked vehicles.
Kipembe also owns a microfinance company known as Wema Tosha which provides loans to local farmers and agribusinesses. The microfinance company has over 10 branches spread across the country.
4. Jaoko Oburu Odinga
He comes from one of Kenya’s most prominent political families- the Odingas- but keeps a low profile. Jaoko schooled in Canada where he took odd jobs to make ends meet.
After a long stay in Canada, he graduated with honours in 1997 and brought to life a business idea he had been mulling for years – trading in cultural artefacts and materials.
Initially, he began importing his items from Zimbabwe. As the business grew, he got more artefacts from Kenya and Tanzania.
His outfit – AfrikBatik based in eastern Canada, Nova Scotia province and Halifax city – was the only black-owned shop of its kind in the region.
5. James David Kimoi Moi
He is the eldest son of Baringo Senator Gideon Moi. Kimoi graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Prior to that, he studied at the exclusive Harrow School in London.
Kimoi abandoned civil engineering in order to pursue potato farming. He is the current director of Agrico East Africa Company – hailed as one of the most elite potato seed companies in the country.
The trained engineer is also a director at Kongoy Farm – a family company that does large-scale farming in the Rift Valley. The company, based in Nakuru, imports an average of 200 to 300 tonnes of potato seeds from the Netherlands annually. The seeds are later multiplied on the farm locally and then sold at higher rates.
A side-by-side image of James David Kimoi Moi and the farm owned by Agrico East Africa Company in Nakuru County
Canva 6. Raila Junior
He is the son of ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Raila Jr is the founder and CEO of Creative Hub Limited, a media production company that has been in operation since 2012.
He was introduced to the business by music producer Tedd Josiah, who taught him what production work and music entails.
7. Ronald Kidero
Ronald is the son of former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero. The astute businessman has an interest in petroleum products.
His LinkedIn profile indicates that he is the Senior Financial Analyst at East Africa Capital Partners. Ronald attended the prestigious Babson College in the US, where he studied Business Administration (Finance option).
He also worked for the reputed audit firm Deloitte, before moving to East Africa Capital Partners where he worked as a senior financial analyst.
Ronald works as the treasurer at Evans Kidero Foundation. He also owns and runs a number of petrol stations across the country.
