Gladys Atieno Nyasuna Wanga (born 7 March 1981) is a Kenyan politician who is the current Governor of

Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a population of 1,131,950 (2019 census) and an area of 3,154.7 km2. Lake Victoria is a major source of livelihood ...

. She is the first female Governor from the Western Region of the Country and one of the seven female governors elected during the

2022 Kenyan General Election General elections were held in Kenya on Tuesday, 9 August 2022. Voters elected the President of Kenya, president, governors, Senate of Kenya, senators, members of the National Assembly (Kenya), National Assembly, and members of county assemblie ...

. She previously served as the County Woman Representative of

from 2013 to 2022. She is married the non-Executive Chairperson of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), George Wanga.

Background and education

Gladys grew up in a political family following closely the footsteps of her late father John Nyasuna, who at one point was a renowned councilor in

Kisumu County Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former districts of Kenya, administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquart ...

, which was then known as

Nyanza Province Nyanza Province (; ) was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province. The region is located in the southwes ...

. She obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Health Management from

Kenyatta University Kenyatta University (KU) is a public university with its main campus in Nairobi, Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014, it ...

in 2004 and later on graduated from

in 2012 with a Master's Degree in Health Management. At

, she was the first female to participate and win an elective seat as the General Secretary of the Union of the Students.

Career

In her early career life, Wanga was initially the Program Manager at the Kenyan Trust for African Rock Art formerly Trust for Africa Art before retaining the same role at the Liverpool VCT Care and Treatment. In 2013, Wanga ran for an elective seat for Women Representative at the

Homa Bay Homa Bay is a town (and eponymous bay) on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa (in the Luo language ''Got Marahuma'' or ''God Uma'' famous mountain" and Ruma National Park, the latter note ...

County where she emerged victorious. In Parliament, Wanga was a member of Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare in Kenya. On 25 August 2022, she succeeded Cyprian Awiti as the second governor of

References

External links

Mzalendo

Gladys Wanga - ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanga, Gladys Kenyatta University alumni Living people Kenyan women in politics Kenyan women journalists Kenyan journalists 1981 births 21st-century Kenyan politicians 21st-century Kenyan women politicians