Eliud Ngala Mwendwa (1923 – June 8, 2016) was a Kenyan teacher and politician. He was a member of the Kenyan delegation to the 1960 Lancaster House Conference, which negotiated the country's independence from the United Kingdom. [1] Mwendwa then served as Minister for Labour within President Jomo Kenyatta's first post-independence 15-member cabinet. [1] He ultimately served as the Minister for Labour and Social Services from 1963 until 1974 under Kenyatta. [1]
Mwendwa was born in 1923 to Kitui Paramount Chief Mwendwa Kitavi and his fifth wife (Kitavi had seven wives). [1] His brother, Kitili Maluki Mwendwa, became the first African-born Chief Justice of Kenya. [2] Another brother, Kyale Mwendwa, was a former Cabinet minister and director of education. [1] Mwendwa's sister-in-law, Nyiva Mwendwa, became the first woman to serve as a Cabinet minister in Kenya's history. [1]
He graduated from Kagumo Teachers College and worked as a teacher until he entered politics in the 1950s and 1960s. [1] He was first elected to the Legislative Council of Kitui. [1]
Mwendwa was first elected to the Legislative Council of Kenya (Legco) from Kitui in 1963 after the country gained independence. [2] He then served as an MP for Kitui in Legco's successor, the National Assembly, from 1963 until 1969. [2] In 1969, Mwendwa moved to nearby Kitui Central Constituency, which he represented as an MP from 1969 to 1974. [2] In 1974, Mwendwa was defeated for re-election by Daniel Mutinda, the former Minister of Information and Broadcasting. [2]
Ngala Mwendwa died from complications of a heart attack at the Nairobi Hospital ICU unit on June 8, 2016, at the age of 93. [1] [2] He was buried at his home in Ithookwe, Kitui County, on June 18, 2016. [2] He was survived by his wife, Priscilla Kavutha Mwendwa, and their eight children. [1] Mwendwa's first wife, Agnes Kana, died in 1960. [1]