Kenya’s first female elected Member of Parliament (MP) Grace Onyango has passed on.
Mama Grace passed on while undergoing treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.
She died aged 98 after a long illness. Her daughter Pauline Akwacha confirmed her demise.
“It is true she has passed on while undergoing treatment,” she said.
Mama Grace was Kenya’s first woman mayor, elected in Kisumu in 1965.
In 1969, she became the first woman to be elected as MP. She held the position until 1983.
She was also the first woman Secretary General of Luo Union (East Africa).
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At the same time, she was also the first female Deputy Speaker in the parliament.
Kisumu County Governor Anyang Nyong’o eulogized Mama Grace as a pillar of women’s leadership and a great role model who blazed the trail in political leadership in Kenya.
“Mama Grace, a woman of many firsts, passed on this evening, four hours after we celebrated and honoured her during this year’s International Women’s Day at a social center we fondly named after her,” he said.
Nyong’o described her as a selfless, focused, brave, and visionary woman, a mother and grandmother to many, and also noted that she will be remembered for mentoring girls and young woman