Cleopa Kilonzo Mailu (born c. 1956) is a Kenyan politician. He served as the Kenyan Minister of Health.

Early life

Cleopa Kilonzo Mailu was born circa 1956. He attended schools in Kyulu and Kangundo until he went to

Friends School Kamusinga Friends School Kamusinga (FSK), popularly known as Kamu/Frishka, is a Kenyan Quaker national school established in 1956 and located in Kimilili, Bungoma County, Kenya. The school is located 409.9 kilometres from Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. ...

. He graduated from the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

and earned a master's degree in medical genetics from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Career

Mailu started his career as an intern at the

Kenyatta National Hospital The Kenyatta National Hospital is the oldest hospital in Nairobi, Kenya which was established In 1901 as the Native Civil Hospital but later changed in 1963 to Kenyatta National Hospital. It is a public, tertiary, referral hospital for the Mi ...

. Mailu was the founding director of its department of medical genetics in 1989. From 1995 to 2000, he worked for the Ministry of Health and led an anti-

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

campaign. Mailu subsequently worked for

Unicef UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in Malawi and Zambia. Mailu became the first African CEO of

The Nairobi Hospital The Nairobi Hospital is a private hospital located in Upper Hill area, Nairobi, Kenya.The hospital was founded in 1954 as the European Hospital, a hospital for Europeans. Location It is located along Argwings Kodhek Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi. ...

in 2003. On 2 August 2018, Mailu presented his credentials to the Director-General of the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, ) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG administrative offices are located inside ...

(UNOG) as the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UNOG. Mailu is Chairing the Meeting of State Parties (22-25 November 2021) of the

Biological Weapons Convention The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans Biological weapons, biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, ...

in Geneva.

Personal life

Mailu has a wife, Teresa, and two sons.

References

Living people 1950s births University of Nairobi alumni Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Friends School Kamusinga Kenyan politicians Kenyan diplomats Year of birth uncertain {{Kenya-bio-stub