Phoebe Asiyo, the fearless daughter of the soil who reshaped Kenya’s political landscape for women and gave life to the dream of gender equality, has passed away. She was 93.

Her family announced that the former Karachuonyo MP and pioneering women’s rights champion died peacefully on Thursday, July 17, 2025, in North Carolina, USA.

“With heavy hearts, the Asiyo family shares the profound loss of our cherished mother, Hon Dr Phoebe Muga Asiyo, who has peacefully passed away in North Carolina, USA. Her presence and love will be deeply missed by all who knew her,” the family said.

“We kindly ask for your understanding and patience as we navigate this difficult time. Details regarding the memorial services and funeral arrangements will be communicated soon.”

Phoebe Asiyo’s name is etched in Kenya’s history as the first African president of the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation, elected in 1958, at a time when African women were still expected to remain in the shadows of national affairs.

She stood tall, and never backed down.

Long before women’s political participation was considered normal, Asiyo walked into Parliament and dared to speak the truth.

Elected MP for Karachuonyo in 1982 and again in 1992, she used her voice to fight for those silenced by culture, poverty and violence.

In 1997, she tabled a bold Affirmative Action motion in Parliament.

It spoke for widows disinherited of property, women attacked during elections, girls denied access to school, and communities bound by practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation.

She called for reserved parliamentary seats for women and reduced entry grades for girls in arid areas.

Though the motion was voted down, its spirit lived on, and shaped a generation.

“This is the story of my life, a journey replete with experiences that have left an indelible mark on the lives of women of this country,” she later wrote in her memoir, It is Possible: An African Woman Speaks.

“My experiences have been a source of immense and near devastating despair, as I encountered human triumph over different forms of diversity, or their caving into base instincts that led to unnecessary human suffering.”

Asiyo didn’t just advocate, she opened doors.

Her work led to the creation of the Affirmative Action fund, which gave women running for political office a financial lifeline.

At the grassroots level, she redirected MYWO from baking cakes and learning embroidery to teaching women how to farm, run businesses and fight for their rights.

“I led women through MYWO in the direction of economic empowerment, women’s self-worth and self-esteem… lobbying for the improvement of women’s healthcare, especially maternal child health, nutrition, hygiene, political empowerment and representation in the three arms of government,” she once said.

Her political journey began in 1979, guided by the support of the Luo Council of Elders and the blessing of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

She had wanted to become a nurse, but destiny had bigger plans. Instead, she became a teacher, then a social worker at the Nairobi Municipal Council, before rising into national leadership.

In MYWO, her leadership was tested early. Some white executive members tried to block her election, saying she was too young, too inexperienced, too African.

But she proved them wrong and redefined what leadership looked like.

She travelled to Kapenguria with fellow women leaders in 1960 to visit Jomo Kenyatta and the other freedom fighters.

She believed in liberty not just for a country, but for its women too.

Phoebe Asiyo was a wife to Richard Asiyo, and a mother of five, three daughters and two sons. But to the nation, she was something more: a mother of movements.

A builder of dreams. A fighter who never raised her voice but shook rooms with her ideas.

As Kenya continues to wrestle with gender equality, it does so on a foundation she helped to lay.

Her death marks the end of an era, but her legacy, like the two-thirds gender rule she envisioned, lives on.