Leah Wanjiku Muguku owns Ksh3 billion The Waterfront Karen Mall, one of the prestige shopping hubs in Nairobi.
But establishing her business empire, Wanjiku decided to take some risks including quitting his monthly-paying teaching job.
Here is Wanjiku’s story
The female billionaire was a teacher at the Kagaa Primary School in Githunguri, Kiambu County. In her teaching career, she found love that helped her discover her entrepreneurial passion.
Wanjiku fell in love with the late Nelson Muguku, a lecturer at a nearby college.
Her late husband developed a passion for agribusiness which prompted to ditch his teaching profession. The decision was not welcomed by his family and close friends.
Muguku invested Ksh2,000 to buy two hens and a cock which kickstarted his poultry farming business.
Amid criticism for quitting a well-paying job, only Wanjiku believed in him. So he asked her for her hand in marriage and she said yes.
Their marriage blossomed and they were blessed with seven beautiful children.
Determined to grow her family venture, in 1963 Wanjiku resigned from her teaching job and joined her husband in the poultry rearing business.
Together, they would build an empire that saw them become among the few Kenyans with the billionaire status.
Expansion
In 1965, the poultry business started paying and they saved enough money to buy a 2-acre farm that they would later name Star Ltd. On this farm, they started a hatchery with a 9,000-egg incubator.
The farm was later named Muguku Poultry Farm.
Kenya’s first President late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and colonial-era government officials became some of his loyal customers.
By the time he passed on in October 2010, Muguku had acquired a 6.08 per cent stake at a local bank before it was listed. He became the bank’s largest individual shareholder for years.
Wanjiku keeping Empire Alive
After her husband, Wanjiku continued with the resolve of extending their empire.
In a 2018 report by Knight Frank, Wanjiku was listed as one of the 23 women billionaires in the country.
Wanjiku is believed to own a 0.9 per cent stake at a local bank, estimated at Ksh1.2 billion.
Wanjiku was at some point ranked second on the list of highly trading women on the Nairobi Stock Exchange market. The capitalist was trading at Ksh306.9 million at the time.
