The Koinange name is its own legacy in Kenya, richly intertwined in Kenya’s history during the pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence periods. It is one of the most renowned names in the country and by large, in Africa and the world.

English playwright, William Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’ quoted “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” To be born a Koinange is one of the ways to heed the first part of this quote.

Fred Mbiyu Koinange is one of the sons of the great Senior Chief Koinange who was a key political person during pre-independent Kenya. The chief had 6 wives and 34 children who have become the backbone of the formidable lineage; The Koinanges.

Fred Mbiyu, the father of Kenyan news anchor Jeff Koinange, holds his fair chunk of cemented place in Kenyan history.

In Jeff Koinange’s Autobiography published in 2014 Through My African Eyes, he shared that his father was the first black Kenyan to operate both a car dealership and a petrol station.

During those years, the petrol station industry was operated by multinationals, until he decided to take them on aged 41 years.

In 1948, he also became the first African Kenyan to open a car dealership right after Mr Cooper opened Cooper Motor Corporation (CMC) in a wooden hut along Jackson road, present-day Parliament Road.

“My dad was the first African to own a petrol station after independence in Ngara, Nairobi. It is called the Koinange Petrol Station till now although he sold it a long time ago,” reads an excerpt from Jeff’s book.

The petrol station, named The Koinange Petrol Station, was located in Kariakor and was opened in 1966. Unfortunately, Fred Mbiyu passed away later that same year after suffering from a brain haemorrhage.

“On the early morning of March 7th, 1966, he arrived at the petrol station and as he stepped out of the car, he collapsed. His workers rushed him to the Aga Khan Hospital.”

“My mother rushed to the Intensive Care Unit and my father looked at her before he passed on,” Jeff wrote in his book.

At the time of his father’s death, Jeff was only 2 months old. Fred Mbiyu was married to Hilda Wambui Ngoima, the first child of Mwaura was Ngoima who was a rich farmer from Githiga village in Githunguri.

However, Fred Mbiyu was at first in love with Hilda’s sister and had even paid her dowry looking to finalize the customary Kikuyu rites before he got a wife.

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When the State of Emergency was declared in 1952, Mbiyu was among those who were detained for 7 years. Hilda’s sister went to be with another man as she could not wait.

Hilda began sending letters to Fred Mbiyu while he was in prison. Over time, what started as an awkward exchange blossomed into a romantic relationship through their letters.

Eventually, Hilda started visiting him in prison. After his release, the two got married and had 4 children, Jeff included. Following Fred Mbiyu’s death, Hilda brought up her children single-handedly while working as a teacher.

Today, Jeff has grown to become one of the country’s most sought-after and highly-paid journalists. The Koinange family legacy still lives on.