President Uhuru's only daughter is off the market

President Uhuru’s daughter Ngina Kenyatta tied the knot in a colourful traditional wedding, complete with Kikuyu traditions, over the weekend.

Ngina is the only daughter of the President and First Lady Margret Kenyatta.

The ceremony caught many Kenyans by surprise when details of the traditional ceremony emerged on social media, with news of the secret wedding going viral after the details of the highly private and exclusive affair leaked.

The lovebirds wore traditional attires, with a source saying the theme of the wedding was red. Ngina has been engaged to Alex Mwai, son of the Karen Club General Manager Sam Mwai though the lovebirds have never formalised their marriage.

The ceremony, which covered all cultural aspects of a Kikuyu wedding, was an introduction of Alex and his family to the Kenyatta family, which assured him that he had been accepted as a Kenyatta son-in-law

Sources privy to the events at the traditional wedding told The Nairobian it was an invite-only event that was attended by 100 guests who included who is who in the larger Kenyatta family. 

Those in attendance included Kiambu Governor James Nyoro, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo, and Permanent Secretary Joseph Njoroge, Deputy Inspector General of Police Edward Mbugua, among other notable figures in the corporate world.

The exclusive wedding that took place on Saturday, June 18, was also graced by members of the larger Kenyatta family, led by the matriarch, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, and Ngengi Muigai, Kibatu Muigai, Captain Kungu Muigai and their respective families.

Also present were Ngina’s friends, among them media personality Miano Muchiri, Geff Mwai, Jack Vincent and Muigai Kamau.

Alex is an Investment Director at Hesabu and previously worked with KenGen.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Dedham University in the UK and ABF from IEB School in Real Madrid.

Ngina, who is known to keep her life private, also invited a few close friends and business associates to the ceremony that went into the dead of the night without even neighbours being aware of what was afoot.

This event sets the stage for the young couple’s church wedding.

Last year, President Kenyatta’s daughter gave birth to her first child at a city hospital.  This followed months of her absence from the public limelight, prompting speculation about her whereabouts, especially on social media.

But hers is not the first wedding or baby in the President’s family.

In October 2016, President Uhuru’s first-born son Jomo Kenyatta and his longtime girlfriend Achola Ngobi held a traditional wedding ceremony on a Saturday afternoon.

Then in December that year, the first family performed the last traditional marriage ceremony ahead of Jomo’s wedding.

The final traditional marriage rite was graced by who’s who in the public service as well as corporate and political circles. It took place at the family’s rural home at Ichaweri village in Gatundu South, Kiambu County.

After the Kikuyu traditional wedding, the couple vanished from the public eye until November 2017, when word got out that the couple had been blessed with a baby girl (Wanjiru), named after First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta and, later, a baby boy (Uhuru) named after President Uhuru Kenyatta. 

It has been a bountiful decade for the families of the President and his deputy, William Ruto.

Like the President, Ruto had the pleasure of seeing his son and daughter start families.

In January, his son Nick Ruto put Evelyn Chemtai in the house, barely a year after Nigerian national  Dr Alexander Ezenagu walked his daughter June down the aisle at a colourful ceremony held in Karen, Nairobi.

Coincidentally, neither Uhuru nor Ruto attended each of their children’s weddings.