Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja has cleared the air after reports emerged that she was fighting for her life in a London hospital. Governor Susan Kihika had claimed that the Senator was receiving treatment in the United Kingdom.
Governor Kihika made the revelation on Thursday, May 1, 2025, during an interview on the vernacular podcast Kogi’s Corner.
Although the Governor and Senator Karanja have been at odds for some time, Kihika expressed her well wishes and wished her counterpart a speedy recovery.
“I want to take this opportunity and wish her (Senator Tabitha Karanja) a quick recovery too, I know she is in a hospital in London,” Kihika said, without disclosing the governor’s health emergency.
“How I was raised, I was told if someone is sick and you do not agree with one another, you are not supposed to punch someone who is down.”
Senator Karanja admits she is in London
However, Senator Karanja explained that she was in the UK on vacation after the Senate went on recess.
“I have taken this opportunity to step away from my busy schedule for a brief vacation here in London. I am in excellent health, full of energy, and fully prepared to resume my oversight duties next week,” stated the lawmaker.
She denied reports of being hospitalized. “I thank God I am not sick, I am not in hospital, and I have not been hospitalised.”
At the same time, the legislator called out those spreading reports about her health, claiming they were using public resources to malign her.
“These are fake news being spread by paid bloggers and social media influencers—unfortunately, some of whom are being financed by officials within the county government using public resources.
These funds should instead be channeled toward meaningful development for our people,” noted Karanja.
This comes just weeks after the Senator criticized Governor Kihika’s maternity leave, claiming that she had not properly communicated with the people of Nakuru.
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Besides being a politician, Senator Tabitha Karanja is also an established businesswoman, entrepreneur, and industrialist.
Tabitha Karanja profile
She founded Keroche Breweries, where she served as Chief Executive Officer from 1997 until 2022, before transitioning into politics.
Keroche Breweries became the first alcoholic beverage manufacturer in Kenya to be wholly owned and operated by an indigenous Kenyan company.
Tabitha was born in 1964 near Kijabe in Central Kenya, the firstborn in a family of ten children.
After completing her primary and secondary education, she joined the University of Nairobi (UoN), where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Management, and Operations.
She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Kenya Methodist University (KeMU), where she studied between 2006 and 2011.
She began her career as an Accounting Clerk at the Ministry of Tourism.
Tabitha later met and married Joseph Muigai Karanja, who owned a successful hardware store in Naivasha.
In 1997, the couple closed the hardware store and ventured into the wine-making business.
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Beginning that year, Tabitha Karanja and her husband’s company started producing fortified wine using a capital of Ksh500,000 and locally available raw materials, targeting the lower end of the market.
However, in 2007, the government introduced heavy taxes on locally made wines, pricing Keroche’s product out of the market.
Keroche breweries
The company shifted to manufacturing ready-to-drink gin and vodka, which its state-of-the-art facility continues to produce to this day.
Keroche Breweries expanded its product line in 2008 to include beer, launching with the brand “Summit.”
In 2010, the late former President Mwai Kibaki awarded Tabitha Karanja the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) in recognition of her significant contributions to liberating Kenya’s liquor industry from the monopoly previously held by multinational corporations.
Karanja was also named Businesswoman of the Year by CNBC Africa in 2014.
In 2013, Keroche embarked on a major expansion project aimed at increasing beer production from 60,000 bottles to 600,000 bottles per day.
The refurbished plant—costing approximately Ksh5 billion—was officially commissioned on March 31, 2015, by then Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization Aden Mohammed.
Despite these milestones, Keroche later faced a period of decline, marred by legal battles and tax disputes with the government.
The brewery was shut down in December 2021 and again in June 2022, amid multiple liquidation suits and a prolonged standoff with tax authorities.
In a revival effort, Tabitha’s son, Edward Muigai, began revitalizing the once-thriving brewery in January this year by recruiting thousands of young Kenyans at the revamped Keroche Breweries offices at Krishna Centre in Westlands.
Family and feud with Governor Kihika
The Senator together with her husband are the parents of four children: James Karanja Muigai, Anerlisa Muigai, Edward Muigai and the late Tecra Muigai.
Tecra Muigai died after she allegedly fell off a flight of stairs on May 2, 2020.
In the run up to the 2022 general elections, Senator Tabitha ventured into politics and was elected on a UDA Party ticket as the third Senator of Nakuru County succeeding Kihika who won the Governor’ seat.
Since winning the seat, the Senator has been at loggerheads with Governor Kihika.
The legislator took issue with Kihika’s maternity leave and urged Members of County Assembly (MCAs) to initiate impeachment proceedings, warning that the county was on the verge of collapse due to the governor’s prolonged, unexplained absence.
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