Kenyan Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o is currently trending on social media, after she released an emotional video to her father, Prof. Anyang Nyong’o, endorsing him for Kisumu’s gubernatorial seat.
Prof. Nyong’o, who is the current senator for Kisumu county in Western Kenya, is looking to unseat the current governor of Kisumu, Jack Ranguma, in the coming elections, which are slated for August 8th.
In her video, Lupita thanks her father for his unwavering passion in cultivating a better future for Kenya:
I am sorry I cannot be there right now because I am working on a new movie, but you can count on my prayers and support from afar, she says.
The Oscar award-winning actress goes on to outline some of the things her father has achieved in his long political career, including building schools, roads, medical centers, and connecting rural homes to electricity.
She further confesses her love for Kisumu, her home county, and insists that the county will be a better place with her father as the governor:
I want Kisumu to shine in the world as much as you do. And I for one am really excited that with you as a governor, Kisumu can become a center of excellence for the arts, because you love arts and culture, and will definitely create an enabling environment for young artists and other talents to grow and thrive, the actress insists.
She concludes by wishing her father the best of luck in his quest for governorship, reminding him of his common maxim to “never let a dream die on the vine.”
Who’s Prof. Anyang Nyong’o?
Nine-year-old Rose Nasimiyu and Medical Services Minister Prof Anyang Nyong’o during the launch of the Africa Cancer Foundation on July 12, 2011. Photo credit: WILLIAM OERI/NATION
Prof. Nyong’o was born in 1945 in Kisumu, Nyanza Province, where he completed his A-level studies before enrolling for his undergraduate degree in Political Science at Makerere University in neighboring Uganda.
Thereafter, he did his graduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Chicago in the United States, where he obtained his Master’s and Ph.D. in Political Science in 1977.
Nyong’o has taught political science in various universities around the world, including the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He has also been the head of programs at the African Academy of Sciences.
His political career started in 1992, when he was elected as a member of parliament to represent Seme constituency and later Kisumu Rural constituency. He has also served as a minister for Health as well as the minister for Planning and National Development.
Lupita Nyong’o with her parents Dorothy and Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o. Photo credit: Nairobi News
He is the current Secretary-General of the Orange Democratic Movement (Kenya’s main opposition party).
Although he has been credited for some of the major reforms that happened in the Kenyan Ministry of Health during his tenure, some critics blame him for a major corruption scandal that involved questionable payments by the state medical insurance fund to “ghost” medical centers across the country:
He is married to Dorothy Nyong’o and together they have three children, including Lupita, Peter, and Esperanza.
