Gladys Atieno Wanga

Gladys Atieno Wanga, born on 7 March 1981 in Kisumu, is a Kenyan politician and the current Governor of Homa Bay County, elected in August 2022 as the first woman to hold this position in Western Kenya. She studied Health Management at Kenyatta University, where she became the first female Secretary-General of the student association, and later earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in the same field. Her political career began in 2013 when she was elected Homa Bay County Woman Representative, a role she held until 2022, during which she became the first woman to chair the Finance and National Planning Committee in Kenya’s National Assembly. A member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), she has been a strong advocate for women’s empowerment and social justice, inspired by her father’s political activism. Beyond politics, she is married to George Wanga, former chairperson of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and together they have two children. Her rise to leadership has made her a symbol of breaking gender barriers in Kenyan politics and a role model for women aspiring to leadership.