She is the first woman Governor of Machakos county, described as a soft-spoken politician who doesn’t beat around the bush.
However, there are a few facts about her that are unknown to many. Her first name is Petronilla. Yes, that is her baptismal name although many know her as Wavinya Ndeti. She disclosed that after baptism she was given the name Petronilla, which she rarely uses.
Wavinya is Muindi Mbingu’s great-granddaughter. Her father was Peter Nzuki Ndeti who also sat in the Legislative Council (Legco). Nzuki was the son to Muindi wa Mbingu a former Kamba politician.
Wavinya is the lastborn in a family of ten children and was born in 1967. She and her brother named Dick were the only children who joined politics.
Wavinya has a Masters in Business Systems Analysis and Design from The City University London, Masters in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in the UK, and a bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from South Bank University in the UK. 2 months ago, 2 voters went to IEBC seeking to have her disqualified over the degrees but the case was trashed by the Dispute Resolution council and later the High court.
She married a Nigerian despite her parents’ warning. In a previous interview, Wavinya disclosed that while going to study in London she was warned against getting involved with Nigerians. However, she did the exact opposite and got a Nigerian boyfriend, her late husband Prince Oduwole who passed on in 2016 after a short illness.
When her father found out, he was furious but she stood her ground and her parents agreed to their marriage after six years of courtship.
Despite being a computer scientist and politician, she is also a large-scale farmer. At her Kinanie home, she farms, Watermelons, Onions, and cabbages among other crops using drip irrigation.
She previously served as Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development, and Public Works and she was chairperson of the governing council of Kenya Water since 2019.
She was the first woman MP in Machakos county to be elected since independence when she served as MP for the Kathiani Constituency in the 10th Kenyan parliament and assistant minister in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports from 2008 to 2013.
