US-based law scholar Prof Makau Mutua has come out to give some unknown details about envoy nominee Mwende Mwinzi.
Most Kenyans came to know about Mwinzi recently after President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated her to be Kenya's Ambassador for Seoul, South Korea.
Her nomination generated a lot of heat after it was discovered she had dual citizenship for Kenya and United States of America.
Drama ensued in Parliament after National Assembly Defence and Foreign Relations Committee approved her appointment but Committee on Implementation reversed it after she refused to denounce US citizenship.
Mwinzi moved to the High Court seeking to stop MPs from forcing her to renounce her US citizenship before she becomes Kenya’s new Ambassador to South Korea.
The case which is being handled by Justice James Makau is yet to be determined.
Now, who is really Mwende Mwinzi? According to Prof Mutua, Mwinzi is a Kenyan born in the US of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father.
"Her mother, Mary Mwinzi, and her father, Maluki Mwinzi, were my teachers. The two were the best teachers I’ve ever had. I babysat Mwende as a kid. Her parents met in America when Mr Mwinzi was in college," he writes in his weekly column on Sunday Nation.
"After Mwinzi (Mwende) was born, the family moved to Kenya to build the young country rather than take the easy way out in America. They raised their children in Kenya. Her late father loved Kenya with every fibre of his body. Her mom is a bona fide Kenyaphile," Mutua states.
The lawyer says due to the fact that she was raised in Kenya, Mwinzi speaks impeccable Kikamba 'far much better than me (Mutua)'.
He discloses that the envoy nominee is the founder of Twana Twitu, an NGO that helps HIV/AIDS orphans, and praises her that 'she’s given to Kenya more than it’s given her'.
"Mwinzi, like her parents, has invested her resources from the United States in Kenya. She’s decided to uplift Mwingi, one of the most challenged regions in Kitui," Mutua says.
The Prof notes Mwinzi is a proud Kenyan and hits out at MPs for declining to approve her appointment as an envoy.
"She didn’t choose to be born in America to a Kenyan father. It’s cruel to deny her the opportunity to serve Kenya in South Korea as Kenya’s Ambassador," Mutua opined