{{Short description|Kenyan politician}} {{Use British English|date=June 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Susan Kihika | office1 = Governor of Nakuru County | party = UDA | deputy1 = David Kones | term_start1 = 25 August 2022 | term_end1 = | status1 = | predecessor1 = Lee Kinyanjui | successor1 = | office2 = Senator of Nakuru County | deputy2 = | term_start2 = 31 August 2017 | term_end2 = 25 August 2022 | status2 = | predecessor2 = James Kiarie Mungai | successor2 = Tabitha Karanja | office3 = Speaker of the Nakuru County assembly | predecessor3 = ''Inaugural'' | successor3 = Joel Maina Kairu | governor3 = Kinuthia Mbugua | term_start3 = 22 March 2013 | term_end3 = 2017 | image = Susan Kihika at an event.jpg | image_size = | caption = Kihika in 2019 | birth_name = Susan Wakarura Kihika | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * University of North Texas * Southern Methodist University }} | occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|politician}} | citizenship = | website = https://susankihika.com/ }}
'''Susan Wakarura Kihika''' is a Kenyan lawyer, politician, and the first female governor of Nakuru County. She was also among the seven female Governors that were elected in the 9 August 2022 Kenyan general election against a total 40 male governors, marking significant progress from the three female governors that had been elected in the 2017 elections.<ref>{{Cite web |last=KIPKEMOI |first=FELIX|title=History as Kenyans elect seven women governors |url=https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2022-12-31-history-as-kenyans-elect-seven-women-governors/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=The Star |language=en-KE}}</ref>
She was elected as a senator in 2017 <ref name="1R">{{cite web|access-date=19 June 2018 | url=https://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/elected-women-senators/1064-4051738-ax8nnoz/index.html |title=History as Kenya set to have first elected women senators |date=9 August 2017 | newspaper=Daily Nation |first=Njoki |last=Chege | location=Nairobi}}</ref> on the Jubilee Party as a whip. Susan held the position until the May 2020 when she was replaced by Senator Irungu Kang'ata.<ref>{{Cite web|last=PLC|first=Standard Group|title=The Standard|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/adblock?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.standardmedia.co.ke%2Fnairobi%2Farticle%2F2001371065%2Fmurkomen-and-kihika-officially-replaced-in-senate|access-date=2022-02-07|website=The Standard|language=en}}</ref> Prior to that, she served as the first female speaker of the Nakuru County Assembly<ref name="1R" /> and held the position of the Vice Chair of the County Assemblies Forum (CAF)[https://www.devex.com/organizations/county-assemblies-forum-caf-kenya-150821].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-17|title=Susan Kihika - Biography and Life Story » Famous Nakuru|url=https://famousnakuru.co.ke/susan-kihika-biography-life-story/|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Famous Nakuru|language=en-US}}</ref>
Kihika has been involved in community projects and charity work including supporting women groups across the county. She is a strong advocate for the rights and welfare of children, especially those living with disabilities. Kihika assumed office on 25 August 2022.
==Background and education== Alice, her mother, was her father's second wife.<ref name="2R">{{cite web|access-date=19 June 2018 | url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000227158/i-am-much-more-than-my-father-s-daughter-says-nakuru-county-assembly-speaker-susan-kihika |title=I am much more than my father's daughter, says Nakuru County Assembly Speaker Susan Kihika |date=18 December 2016 |newspaper=The Standard | first=Steve |last=Mkawale |location=Nairobi}}</ref> Susan attended Busara Forest View Academy in Nyahururu and Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls’ High School in Nyeri. She then migrated to the United States around 1992, for further education.<ref name="2R" />
She was admitted to the University of North Texas, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2006, she graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the Law School of Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. Subsequently, she was admitted to the Texas Bar, after passing the requisite examinations.<ref name="3R">{{cite web|access-date=19 June 2018 | url=https://softkenya.com/kenya/susan-kihika/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620024811/https://softkenya.com/kenya/susan-kihika/ | url-status=usurped | archive-date=20 June 2018 |year=2016 | publisher=SoftKenya.com |author=SoftKenya |location=Nairobi | title=Susan Kihika Biography, Education and Politics}}</ref>
==Career before politics== Following her graduation from law school, she worked in the public service.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Majority Whip {{!}} The Kenyan Parliament Website |url=http://www.parliament.go.ke/the-senate/majoritywhip |access-date=2021-05-20 | website=www.parliament.go.ke}}</ref> Later she left public service and established ''The Kihika Law Firm'' in Dallas, Texas which specialized mostly in representing [https://famousnakuru.co.ke/susan-kihika-biography-life-story/ immigrants]. In 2012, after 20 years in the United States, Kihika travelled back to Kenya.<ref name="1R"/><ref name="2R"/><ref name="3R"/>
==Political career== In 2013, she contested the Bahati Constituency parliamentary seat but lost to Kimani [https://famousnakuru.co.ke/susan-kihika-biography-life-story/ Ngunjiri]. She vied for the Nakuru County Speaker’s seat where she defeated 7 [https://susankihika.com/about-susan-kihika/ opponents] to emerge as the first Assembly Speaker of Nakuru County.<ref name="2R"/><ref name="3R"/>
In 2017, she contested the Nakuru County senatorial seat and won on a Jubilee Party ticket as the first female Senator of Nakuru County. Kihika’s vision is to see peaceful coexistence within Nakuru [https://womenaspirants-kenya.org/candidates/susan-kihika/ County] She has also been involved in supporting social issues, economic empowerment initiatives and addressing [https://womenaspirants-kenya.org/candidates/susan-kihika/ insecurity]
In 2018, Senator Susan Kihika was elected as the first Vice President of the Bureau of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forum of Women Parliamentarians |url=https://www.ipu.org/about-ipu/structure-and-governance/governing-council/forum-women-parliamentarians |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Inter-Parliamentary Union |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bureau of Women Parliamentarians |url=https://www.ipu.org/about-ipu/structure-and-governance/governing-council/forum-women-parliamentarians/bureau-women-parliamentarians |access-date=2022-10-07 |website=Inter-Parliamentary Union |language=en}}</ref> In October of the same year, Kihika took over first as the acting President and later as President replacing her predecessor Hon. Ulrika Karlsson.<ref>https://ipciconference.org/speaker/luis-gallop/ Karlsson</ref>
On 9 August 2022, she stood to be the Nakuru County Governor and won on a UDA ticket. Susan defeated Lee Kinyanjui who was on a Jubilee Party ticket and became the first woman Governor for Nakuru County. She is commonly referred to by her county people as the "Woman of Firsts".
In July 2024, she faced sharp criticism for having to deliver from abroad. This was after her absence from county duties became public, after which it was confirmed she was on maternity leave. This was termed contrasting her philosophy of women empowerment and making healthcare for all women accessible and of high standard . She later claimed that it would have been inappropriate for her juniors to see her naked.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Susan Kihika:Why I delivered in the US |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001520986/susan-kihika-why-i-delivered-in-us | work=The Standard }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Susan Kihika Explains Why She Chose to Give Birth in US: "Kuficha Aibu" | url=https://www.tuko.co.ke/entertainment/celebrities/591703-susan-kihika-explains-chose-give-birth-kuficha-aibu/ | work=Tuko }}</ref>
==Family== Kihika was married to Sam Mburu in a traditional wedding on 7 November 2020 in Nyahururu.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.citizen.digital/news/pomp-and-color-as-nakuru-senator-susan-kihika-weds-businessman-sam-mburu-350291|title=Pomp and color as Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika weds Sam Mburu|date=7 November 2020|website=Citizen Digital}}</ref> The ceremony was graced by Dr. William Samoei Ruto, Kenya's president, who also took part in the dowry [https://www.afrobays.com/general-news/susan-kihika/ negotiations].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Okoth |first=Brian |title=William Ruto sworn in as Kenya's fifth President |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001455593/william-ruto-sworn-in-as-kenyas-fifth-president |access-date=2022-10-07 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref> In March 2025 she gave birth to twins, Jonathan and Jayden.
==See also== * Parliament of Kenya
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.sde.co.ke/thenairobian/article/2001252507/i-don-t-want-my-kids-near-your-wife-woman-tells-senator-s-husband I don’t want my kids near your wife, woman tells senator’s husband] * [https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/nakuru/Senator-Kihika--MPs-in-bid-to-save-Speaker-from-ouster/1183314-4621194-so3g1n/index.html Senator Kihika, MPs in bid to save Speaker from ouster] As of 19 June 2018.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kihika, Susan}} Category:Living people Category:Governors of Nakuru County Category:21st-century Kenyan lawyers Category:Members of the Senate of Kenya Category:21st-century Kenyan women politicians Category:21st-century Kenyan politicians Category:University of North Texas alumni Category:Southern Methodist University alumni Category:Alumni of Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls High School Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century Kenyan women lawyers Category:United Democratic Alliance (Kenya) politicians