Former Transport Minister John Michuki’s youngest daughter, Yvonne Wanja Michuki, has been appointed to oversee an international organisation’s operations in three countries. According to a statement by Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), a London-based tea lobby group, Wanja was appointed to spearhead its regional strategy.
The institution noted that Wanja would be based in Nairobi but would oversee operations in Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda.
“Wanja is responsible for developing high-level, strategic relationships with businesses, governments and development partners in Africa to enable us to go further, faster in tea-growing regions. She has hands-on experience of the tea sector, having founded her own speciality tea business,” A statement on ETP’s official website reads.
The organisation also pointed out that it tapped into her largely because of her achievements and past accomplishments.
“Wanja also worked closely with farmers during her time as a Trade and Investment Diplomat in the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and was part of the tea farming community in Central Kenya. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Wanja also travels to Malawi and Rwanda to support these regions. Her role is key to driving forward the longer-term sustainability of tea across Africa,” the statement adds.
She accepted the role promising to focus her energies on improving the livelihoods of tea workers.
“Most immediately, I am working with the UK and Kenyan teams and ETP’s corporate members and primary partners, such as Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), and donors, to meet some of the needs of smallholder farmers and workers as they adjust to the lifestyle and behavioural changes demanded by COVID-19.
“In the medium and long term, we will be supporting programmes and reforms in Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda to create thriving, socially just, and environmentally sustainable tea sectors in these countries. Each country’s tea sector has its own unique set of characteristics,” she told the Business Daily.
Prior to the appointment, Wanja has served as the Managing Director of Be Bold Consulting and Advisory Limited, an independent financial consulting and executive coaching firm based in Nairobi.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she began her career in finance, working for Barclays Bank as a corporate analyst and research manager between 1997 and 2001, before she joined Merrill Lynch as a summer associate for less than a year.
Wanja then founded her first company, Highland Tea Company LLC, based in New York, US, which she ran between 2003 and 2008 before it wound up.
She once opened up about a dark episode of her life during the Safaricom’s Engage Talks in December 2017.
According to her, she was about four years when she was molested severally by their guard. She narrated the incident as being confusing. Wanja said that after the incident, the molester told her that she was not to tell anyone about what was happening as it was ‘their secret’.
He threatened that if she dared tell anyone, then she would be in trouble.
“I think I have handled that part of my life; it has come with lessons which have informed who I am now. All of it is a part of me and I am a part of it. I don’t have nightmares about it. I slew that monster of shame,” she said.
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