Esther Muthoni Passaris OGW (born 20 October 1964) is a Kenyan

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. She is the Nairobi County woman representative in the bicameral Kenyan parliament, and a member of the

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

(ODM) Political Party. In 2013, she ran for member of parliament as a

women's representative A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

for

Nairobi County Nairobi City County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya. With an estimated population of 5,454,000 in 2024, it is the third-smallest in area of the counties, yet the most populous. It also serves as the capital of Kenya. The county entity was ...

, on the Kenya National Congress political party ticket but lost to Rachel Shebesh. She is a female public figure in Kenyan business and politics.

Early life

Passaris was born in the coastal city of

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

father and a

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

mother. She attended the Aga Khan Academies for her primary and secondary education. She enrolled in the Advanced Management Program course at

Strathmore Business School Strathmore University Business School (SBS) is the business school of Strathmore University. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, it offers Doctoral, Masters and Undergraduate programmes, as well as executive education programmes. It was started in 2005 thr ...

, a program that was conducted in December 2006 between

Strathmore University Strathmore University is a chartered university based in Nairobi, Kenya. ...

and the

University of Navarra The University of Navarra is a private Catholic research university located on the southeast border of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. It was founded in 1952 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of '' Opus Dei'', as a corporat ...

. She also has a diploma in law from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In October 2017, Passaris graduated from the

United States International University Africa United States International University-Africa, also known as USIU-Africa, is a private university in Kenya. The university is accredited by the Commission for Higher Education (CUE) in Kenya and by the Western Association of Schools and College ...

, in Nairobi, with a BSc International Business Administration.

Public and political career

Esther Passaris is a public figure in Kenya, who has sparked some controversy by her statements about other Kenyan politicians and businessmen. She has been a runner-up in Miss Kenya contest and is actively campaigning for the rights of women in Kenya. Through her ''Adopt a Light'' organization, Passaris has signed a deal with Nairobi city authorities in order to: "Restore decrepit street lighting in exchange for advertising rights on the lamp posts." Passaris ran for the

for

during the

2013 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President of Kenya, President, members of the National Assembly (Kenya), National Assembly and newly formed Senate of Kenya, Senate. Also elected include Governor, governor ...

, and was also a candidate for the post of

Mayor of Nairobi The mayor of Nairobi was the non-executive head of Nairobi City Council in Nairobi, Kenya until the new constitution of 2010 which devolved government was enacted. The mayor's office, officially the Mayor’s Palour, was located at City Hall Nairo ...

. She is currently the Nairobi Women's Representative. Esther speaks about the community and human rights. This makes her spend time with the community, doing mentorship programs and speaking engagements in social forums like Fatuma's Voice. She was also CEO and the founder of "One in a Million" campaign, which was operating under ''Driving Kenya Forward'', a non-profit charitable organization, aimed at fighting development challenges in Kenya, such as poverty and unemployment, and promoting urban and rural development. She was re-elected in the

2022 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 loca ...

. She dedicated her victory to her late father.

Personal life

Passaris has two children (Makenna Ngugi & Lefteris Ngugi) with Kenyan businessman Pius Ngugi. In 2003, she filed a lawsuit against Ngugi for a

breach of promise Breach of promise is a common-law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. It was also called breach of contract to marry,N.Y. Civil Rights Act article 8, §§ 80-A to 84. and the remedy awarded was known as heart balm. From at least the Middle ...

to marry, demanding a monthly allowance of KSh. (US$2,000), and a car to take their children to and from school. In August 2011, Passaris was sued by Ngugi, claiming she continued to demand more money despite agreeing to a truce in their previous case. Passaris' daughter and eldest child, Makenna Ngugi, is a singer.

Awards

*2016 Most influential women in business and government by CEO Global,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

*2009 UN Habitat Business Awards by UN Habitat *2008 Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) by former President of Kenya,

Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passaris, Esther 1964 births Living people People from Mombasa Kikuyu people Kenyan people of Greek descent Kenya National Congress politicians Strathmore University alumni Alumni of the University of London United States International University alumni Orange Democratic Movement politicians 21st-century Kenyan women politicians Members of the 12th Parliament of Kenya Members of the 13th Parliament of Kenya Alumni of Aga Khan Academy, Nairobi