Joseph Ole Lenku

Joseph Jama Ole Lenku (born 20 October 1970) is a Kenyan politician who is the second Governor of Kajiado County after winning in the Kenyan General Elections on 8 August 2017 and retained his seat in the 2022 General elections held on 8 August.

Ole Lenku was born on 20 October 1970 in Lenkisim sub-location, Entonet location in the Loitokitok Division of Kajiado County.

He spent his childhood like other Maasai boys in rural areas, herding goats and sheep, running errands and undergoing the necessary ceremonies, rituals and rites of passage in line with Maasai culture.

His father Lenku Ole Mpaa Kapei was a senior chief in Kajiado South.

A respected leader of the Iterito age-group of the Maasai, he is reputedly one of the wealthiest Maasai leaders with more than 2,000 heads of cattle and a large family.

His mother, Sentema Lenku, also hailed from the lineage of a powerful Maasai family.

Keton ole Soipei, Lenku's maternal grandfather was second in line in the leadership of Iterito age-group having lost the top position to Kapei.

On his father, Joseph Ole Lenku recalls that, "Perhaps the only person who was wealthier than Ole Kapei in the region was Stanley Oloitiptip."

In 1979, Ole Lenku was enrolled to the Lenkisim Primary School.

Because of the rough and tumble of Kajiado, Ole Lenku had to be moved to three other elementary schools, including Ilbisel Primary School (1980–1981), Nkama Primary School (1982–1983) and D.E.B. Loitokitok (1984–1986), where he excelled in his Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) exams.

(The former Cabinet Minister and revered Maasai political kingpin who died on 22 January 1985).

His double pedigree has placed Ole Lenku on the top rack of Maasai leadership, also widely viewed as the youthful leader in line to inherit the mantle of William Ole Ntimama as the community's spokesperson.

In 1987, Ole Lenku proceeded to the Nakuru High School, where he attained his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 1990.

After high school, Ole Lenku was admitted to study at Kenyatta University.

However, he proceeded to the Kenya Utalii College where he attained a diploma in Hotel Management in 1995.

In 1996, he joined the prestigious Serena Hotels, a chain of luxury resorts, safari lodges and hotels that operates in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique) and in Southern Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan).

He started off as Assistant Lodge Manager at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge in Tanzania where he served for two years.

In 1998, Ole Lenku was moved to the Serengeti Serena, still in Tanzania.

He developed training standards for the food and beverage departments for which he got commendation from the top leadership of Serena Hotels.

He returned to Kenya in 1999, joining the Kilaguni Serena Lodge as a Lodge Manager.

A year later, he was promoted to General Manager.

He served in this corporate management position until 2003 when he joined the elective politics of Kajiado South.

In 2003, following the death of Kajiado South Member of Parliament Geoffrey Mepukori Parpai, Ole Lenku vied for the seat on the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) ticket, but lost the nomination to Katoo Ole Metito.

After the by-election, Ole Lenku resumed his corporate management career in the hospitality and tourism industry.

In 2004, he was appointed General Manager of the David Livingstone Safari Resort, a five-star lodge in the Maasai Mara He served in this capacity until 2005 when he left the corporate sector and joined public service.

He then proceeded to the University of Nairobi where he graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and a Master of Business Administration in Business Administration.

He further obtained a certificate in Project Management from Greece Ote Academy and a certificate in Corporate Governance (Centre for Corporate Governance), and has attended many other workshops and conferences on corporate governance, public service and security management.

Ole Lenku started his career in corporate sector management immediately after his graduation from the Kenya Utalii College.

Lenku was Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government from 2013 to 2014.

Ole Lenku is a graduate of the University of Nairobi, where he obtained his Master of Business Administration in strategic management and Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing.

He has worked in different management positions for various hotels in Kenya and Tanzania.

On 23 May 2013, Ole Lenku was appointed Cabinet Secretary in President Uhuru Kenyatta's cabinet, surprisingly with no experience on security matters, becoming the only Maasai person appointed and the pioneering chief executive of the newly created ministry under Kenya's new constitution.

During his first year in office, Ole Lenku steered significant reforms in the security sector, including a robust crack-down on drug trafficking, reforms of the police force and increase in its budget and devolution of security.

In the wake of the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in September 2013, Lenku spearheaded the rolling out of a new security framework known as "Nyumba Kumi" (ten households) anchored on the larger concept of community policing.

Ole Lenku's appointment came as Kenya was transitioning to a new constitutional dispensation as well as a devolved government.

His tenure as Cabinet Secretary has also been met with increased acts of terrorism culminating in the Westgate Mall attack, which left 69 dead and scores of people injured.

On 17 June 2014, Lenku dismissed calls for his resignation by the opposition and civil society led by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).

On 25 June 2014, Member of Parliament for Kisumu Central Ken Obura, a member of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) Now National Super Alliance (NASA), gave a notice of the motion to impeach Ole Lenku, who fought back as the motion collapsed when the opposition quickly retreated.

Following repeated Al-Shabaab attacks in Kenya amongst other security lapses, Ole Lenku was dropped from his post on 2 December 2014, with Kenyatta nominating Joseph Ole Nkaissery to replace him.

In August 2017 Joseph ole Lenku was inaugurated as the second Governor of Kajiado County.