Elizabeth Gathoni Koinange, 117, has lived through both world wars, the colonisation of Kenya and its independence.
Article originally published on Daily O on 5 April, 2017. See full article here.
When I was in primary school, my teacher asked the class who our heroes were. As you can expect, most of the children named their favourite pop star or actor but I remember standing up and saying “My great grandmother Elizabeth, because she’s 103!”
The classroom went silent and all eyes were on me. “How is that even possible?” I was asked by a classmate. Honestly, if you would have told me back then that I would be travelling to celebrate her 117th birthday, I would have asked the same question. But, 14 years later, we celebrated my great grandmother’s 117th birthday.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been bursting to share the story of my great grandmother, Elizabeth Gathoni Koinange. She is known to be one of the oldest living people in the world and has lived through both world wars, the colonisation of Kenya and its independence. She is greatly admired in Kenya because she was the fifth wife of Senior Chief Koinange Wa Mbiyu, who played a great role in Kenya’s independence.
I was raised in London, but my African – specifically Kenyan – roots have always been a huge part of who I am. I’d find myself frustrated seeing images of Africa in the media being of starvation, famine and corruption, but at the BBC, we’re changing that.
Even though these stories are relevant, so are the positive stories from the continent. Africa is a big and diverse continent; each country bursting with stories to be told and each of them unique and important in their own right. I wanted to tell these stories to the world.