In life, strong ambitious women have been a driving force that has seen many societies, corporates, and even governments prosper.
Mwende Gatabaki, wife to economist and political strategist David Ndii, boasts an illustrious career and has been a key contributor to his success.
She is the daughter of former Githunguri Member of Parliament and Senior Chief, Peter Gatabaki.
She was thrust into the public eye on December 4, 2017, when she asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to release Ndii, following his dramatic arrest.
Mwende Gatabaki, wife to economist David Ndii.
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Education
Mwende attended Kenyatta University between 1987 and 1990 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics.
She later proceeded to the University of Salford in the UK in 1992 and attained a post-graduate diploma in computer science upon completion in 1994.
Between 1994 and 1996, she attended the United States International University where she graduated with a Masters in Management and Organisational Development.
Career
Mwende boasts an illustrious career, having served for over eighteen years in the government, public and private sector organizations at national, continental, and global levels. Most notable, a state appointment in 2014.
For six years between 2004 and 2010, she served as group general manager at the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA).
It was during her reign that KTDA became the first African organisation to clinch the global CIO 100 Award in 2009.
"The CIO 100 Awards celebrates 100 organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers," the company website states.
Between 2010 and 2014, she served as a special advisor to the first president and chief operating officer of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Mwende Gatabaki.
In March 2014, President Kenyatta wrote to president of AfDB requesting that Mwende be allowed to return to Kenya and work on the digital transformation of the government.
She was appointed as the acting director-general of Kenya Citizens and Foreign Nationals Management Service, and project director at Umoja Kenya, where she served between March 2014 and June 2015.
According to Mwende, the project was intended to enhance security following the 2013 Westgate attack.
She has also worked with McKinsey & Company, as a senior public sector advisor in East Africa (Partner level) between July 2015 and October 2016.
Her job involved building the public sector practice to deepen the company's socio-economic impact and grow revenues.
Between January 2018 and June 2020, Mwende was a practice leader at Lattice Consulting Limited, a boutique advisory, and investment firm established in 2003, with a clientele across the private and public sectors in East, West and Southern Africa.
She is the founder and current Managing Director of Africa Aquaculture Development Company Ltd (AADeC).
According to her LinkedIn page, AADeC is a pioneering agribusiness that aims to develop and commercialize Africa's smallholder fish farming value chain - meeting food security, maximize incomes for smallholder farmers, create jobs, and meet the economic goals of the marginalized communities.
David Ndii
Awards
She is an award-winning digital strategist, and has received awards for her exemplary work in ICT on four occasions.
Mwende was feted with the Excellence in ICT Utilization and Management honour at the Kenya@50 Years Awards in December 2013.
During her reign, KTDA became the first African organisation to clinch the global CIO 100 Award in 2009.
