BIO+RESUME

Hon. Amb. Chirau Ali Mwakwere was born in 1945 at Golini, Kwale district. Mwakwere born to a very prominentDigo family attended local public schools.From 1964 to 1966 Mwakwere underwent Teacher Education training at the then Kenyatta College, (now Kenyatta University).

In 1974 he graduated with a Master of Education degree from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom and a Diploma in Education from the University of Reading.He obtained a Master Trainer from the University of Connecticut, Hartford, USA and a Master of Science in Maritime Studies and International Transport from the University of Wales in Cardiff in 1982 and 1986 respectively.

In 1987 he became a Member of the Chartered Institute of Transport, United Kingdom. He is now a Fellow of the CIT From 1978 to 1979 he was the Political Secretary at the Kenyan Embassy, Saudi Arabia. In 1979 he became the pioneer Principal Bandari College in Mombasa where he served for ten years until 1989.Mwakwere was the Deputy National Executive Officer, KANU National Secretariat from 1989 to June 1991.

He then went into self employment until when he was appointed to serve as the country’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe in June 1992. His posting at Harare had accreditation to Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. He served at Harare for six years upto 1998.From 1996 to 1997 he was the special envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa and also served concurrently as High Commissioner.From 1998 to 2000, he was relocated and named as the Ambassador of Kenya to United Arab Emirate based in the modern city of Abu Dhabi and was accredited to the rich island State Qatar.

Upon retirement from the government service, Ambassador Mwakwere took a job as the Director, Business Development, Africa Region with a multinational corporation based in the Middle East. At the same time he served as Director, Kenya Commercial Bank.During the 2002 political wave, Ambassador Mwakwere joined politics less than three months before the general election and became a key member of transforming the brief-case political party Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that ended up absorbing all the KANU rebels then known as Rainbow Coalition.In the election Mwakwere he captured the Matuga parliamentary seat.Upon entering the National Assembly he was appointed Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served for only six months (January to June 2003).

In June 2003 he was elevated to the full cabinet and was appointed the Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development where he served for one year until June 2004.When President Mwai Kibaki reshuffled his cabinet and formed a Government of National Unity, Mwakwere was appointed to the prestigious and high profile Foreign Affairs ministry.As the country’s top diplomat, Mwakwere represented the head of state in many international head of states functions, such as the funerals of Pope Paul II in Rome and PLO leader and President Yasser Arafat in Cairo Egypt. In another cabinet reshuffled, Mwakwere was again relocated this time around, to the one of the key and equally powerful Transport portfolio.

Mwakwere lost his ministerial position after losing his parliamentary seat following a successful election petition in February 2010. In the by-election held in July 2010, Mwakwere retained his parliamentary on a landslide beating his nearest opponent by more than 6000 votes. In the cabinet reshuffle of August 16, 2010, Mwakwere was appointed Minister for Trade.

The Minister also held several offices which include Council Member of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) (1990 – 1992), Council Member at the University of Nairobi (1987 – 1991), appointed Life Governor, Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) in 1989 and a Deputy Director, fourth 4th All Africa Games Secretariat, Nairobi.
Mwakwere is married to Rose and they have been blessed with three grown up children, two sons and a daughter.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Cabinet Position: Minister for Trade

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Primary School: Kwale Primary & Intermediate school
Secondary School: Shimo La Tewa High School
High School: Shimo La Tewa High School
College: Kenyatta College

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
University of Reading - Diploma Science
University of Birmingham – M. Ed Degree
University of Wales (Cardiff) - MSc. Degree in International Transport and Maritime Studies

OTHER COURSES/TRAINING RECEIVED
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport (FCIT)
Master Trainer Programme - University of Connecticut - USA
Maritime Trainer's Course - Singapore Polytechnic
Educational Management & Administration - Moray House College, Edinburgh

WORKING EXPERIENCE
(Continuously in govt. service since 1967)
Lecturer - Mombasa Polytechnic
Headmaster - Krapf Memorial Secondary School
Headmaster - Aggrey High School
Lecturer - Kagumo Teachers' College
Curriculum Developer - Head of Educational Research & Evaluation (K.I.E),
Political Secretary – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (served in Saudi Arabia)
Principal - Bandari College
Deputy National Executive Officer, KANU HQ

DIPLOMATIC EXPERIENCE
Ambassador to the U.A.E and Qatar
High Commissioner to Zimbabwe,
accrediated to Mozambique and to the two Kingdom of the Lesotho, and Swaziland.
Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region

MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Minister for Trade (currently serving) Minister for Transport
Mininister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Labour and Manpower Development
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE
PartyLeader - Shirikisho Party of Kenya
Summit Member of Party of National Unity (PNU)
Founding Member of NARC
Founding Member LDP - Rainbow
Deputy National Executive Officer - KANU

HOBBIES
Golf
Sports in general