Tabitha Karanja

Kenyan businesswoman (born 1964)

Tabitha Mukami Karanja, MBS
Born	(1964-08-29) 29 August 1964 (age 59) Kenya
Citizenship	Kenyan
Occupation(s)	Business person, industrialist, entrepreneur and politician; Senator Nakuru County, Kenya, 2022 - present
Years active	1996 - present
Known for	Leading and ownership of Keroche Breweries; Senator Nakuru County, Kenya, 2022 - present
Title	Chief Executive Officer, Keroche Breweries
Spouse	Joseph Muigai Karanja

Tabitha Mukami Muigai Karanja is a Kenyan businesswoman, entrepreneur, industrialist and Nakuru County Senator. She is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Keroche Breweries, the first large brewery in Kenya owned by a non-multinational company. Keroche Breweries accounts for 20% of Kenya's beer consumption, as of October 2012.^[1]

Early life and education

Tabitha was born near Kijabe, in central Kenya. After attending Kenyan schools, she took up employment in the Ministry of Tourism as an Accounting Clerk. She met and married her husband, who owned a successful hardware store in Naivasha town. In 1997, the couple closed the hardware store and went into the wine-making business.^[2]

Career

Beginning in 1997, Tabitha Karanja and her husband started making fortified wine, targeting the lower end of the market. In 2007, when the government enacted heavy taxes on locally made wines, her product was priced out of the market. She switched to manufacturing ready-to-drink gin and vodka, which her state-of-the-art factory still makes today. In 2008, she added beer to her repertoire of alcoholic drinks, beginning with a brand called Summit. In 2013, the factory began expansion plans to increase beer production from 60,000 bottles per day to 600,000 bottles per day.^[3] The refurbished plant, which cost KSh5 billion (US$55.5 million), was commissioned by Adan Mohammed, the Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, on 31 March 2015.^[4]

In the 2022 Kenyan General Election, Karanja ran for and won the Nakuru County Senatorial seat. Karanja's UDA Party ticket garnered 442,864 votes against her main competitor from the Jubilee Party, Lawrence Karanja's 163,625 votes.

Personal life

Tabitha is married to Joseph Muigai Karanja and together, they are the parents of four children; James Karanja, Anerlisa Muigai, Edward Muigai and the late Tecra Muigai. Joseph Muigai Karanja serves as the Chairman of Keroche Breweries Limited.^[5]

References

^ "Meet Kenya's Pioneer Female Brewer, Tabitha Karanja". Ventures Africa Magazine. 27 October 2012. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
^ Muiruri, Peter (29 August 2014). "Tabitha Karanja, The CEO of Keroche Breweries: Resilient At 50". The Standard (Kenya). Retrieved 18 October 2014.
^ Jessica Ellis, and Lillian Leposo (15 March 2013). "Female Beer Boss Who Took On Drinks Giant". Cable News Network (CNN).
^ Mwangi, Macharia (31 March 2015). "Keroche Seeks Larger Market Share With Sh5bn Brew Plant". Daily Nation (Nairobi). Retrieved 1 April 2015.
^ The Campus Mirror Kenya (October 2014). "Keroche Breweries Tabitha Karanja's Bold Journey To The Top". The Campus Mirror Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2021.