Kristina Pratt or Kristina Wambui Kenyatta is the eldest daughter of Founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Mama Ngina Kenyatta. She is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s elder sister.
She is a special education teacher by profession and is the founder of facilities for the disabled and an ambassador for the visually impaired in Africa. She has served as the president of the National Fund for the Disabled in Kenya.
Here is Kristina Pratt’s story as narrated by WoK.
Background & Education
She was born to Mzee Kenyatta and Mama Ngina in 1952. However, due to her parents’ fight for freedom in Kenya, she was raised by her grandmother Anne Nyokabi Muhoho in Gatitu village in Gatundu.
Kristina saw her father for the first time in 1960 when she was eight years old. At the time, he lived in Lodwar with Mama Ngina where he was under house arrest. Kristina and her sister Jeni lived with their parents in Lodwar and later moved to Maralal where Mzee Jomo was also placed under house arrest.
When Mzee Jomo was released in 1961, they moved together with their mother and lived in Gatundu.
Kristina attended Hospital Hill Primary School from 1962 to 1964 when she lived with the family of Sir Derek Erskine – a liberal member of the Legislative Council in the colonial government in Nairobi.
In 1965, she transferred to St. George’s Primary School and later proceeded to Kenya High School where she completed her secondary education.
She began her tertiary studies at an art college in Allentown, Pennsylvania (PA), USA, and specialised in working with the disabled. She moved to Kutztown State College (PA), where she earned a bachelor’s degree in special education in 1974. She graduated from Lehigh University in 1976 in Bethlehem (PA) with a Masters of Science, also in Special Education.
Also Read: Prof. P.K Wainaina: The Kenyatta University VC Who Landed On Uhuru’s Chopping Board
Career
After returning to Kenya, Kristina got a job as a school counsellor for special education.
She would later be appointed Ambassador of the Visually Impaired to Africa by UNESCO in 1977. In 1978, she established the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) in Kasarani, a training institution for teachers for the blind, hearing impaired and mentally disabled.
Kristina left her job as director of special education in 1980.
She has been a devout advocate for special needs education and a champion for the rights of disabled persons. Through the course of her career, she was involved in numerous special education associations and schools, including on the boards of Kambui School for the Deaf, Jacaranda School for the Mentally Handicapped, and Kenya Society for the Blind among others.
Awards & Recognitions
In 1979 she was honoured by the Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped.
Kristina was awarded the Jimmy Carter President’s Prize for Special Education in 1980 in the US.
On July 13, 2022, Kenyatta University (KU) nominated her for the conferment of the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causal) for her contribution and commitment to serving people living with various disabilities.
The university noted that her contribution to the sector had been immense, spanning more than forty years.
“Her dedication to serve people living with disabilities saw her travel all over the country scouting for children with special needs,” read the notice.
“Her inspirational vision and devotion has been a source of courage and transformation to many in Kenya and beyond,” it added.
Marriage & Family
Kristina is married to Victor Pratt who is the nephew of William Tubman – Liberia’s longest-serving president who served from 1944 until his death in 1971. Tubman Road in Nairobi’s CBD is named in his honour.
Victor is based in Kenya and is currently Chairman of the Retirement Benefits Authority. He was first appointed to the position in May 2016 and was re-appointed, by the then Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, in May 2019.
Pratt has previously served in the transport, telecommunications, and energy sectors where he was involved in small business development.
Victor and Kristina have four children.
