- Rosemary Mwangi Njoki was the first bank clerk in Kenya
- While Peter Nyakiamo made history as the first African bank manager in Kenya
The Kenyan banking sector was not as inclusive as is the case today. This has changed over the years as women are becoming a dominant figure in banking halls.
A good number of top tier banks in the country are now under the stewardship of women.
So who was the first female bank clerk in Kenya?
Rosemary Mwangi became the first female bank clerk in Kenya at Barclays Bank of Kenya now known as Absa. This in 1959.
Another history maker was Dr Mary Okelo when she was appointed the first female African bank manager 18 years later at the same bank. She went on to found Makini School years later.
First African Bank Manager in Kenya-Peter Nyakiamo
In June 1963, a few months to Kenya gaining its independence, the first African manager of a bank branch was appointed.
Peter Nyakiamo was appointed sub branch manager at the Queensway Branch of Barclays Bank after working for the bank for 15 years.
“I joined the bank on 13 March 1947. The bank was being run by British-managerial-but the back, the people who really worked were the Asians. We could say we had 6 or 7 Europeans in the branch, the majority Asians”, Nyakiamo said in an interview with ‘A History of Banking in Kenya documentary.
“So you had number a mzungu, number an Asian, number an Arab, number an African,” the banker added.
Banking Kenyans
According to Nyakiamo, the banks went for Africans to encourage them to bring deposits.
He gave an example of how in Bungoma one could open a bank account with one shilling. Nyakiamo recalled going to societies and asking them to open accounts with one shilling.
When he was transferred to Kisii, he had the same responsibility of convincing societies and African farmers to atleast open an account with one shillings.
That was the first step to introduce or attract Africans to a new way of banking.
