Tabitha Karanja

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Tabitha Mūkami Karanja is a Kenyan businesswoman, entrepreneur and politician who has served as the senator for Nakuru County since 2022. She founded Keroche Breweries and is its chief executive officer, making Keroche the first large Kenyan brewery owned by a non-multinational company. At one point, Keroche accounted for a significant share of Kenya’s beer market.

Born near Kijabe in central Kenya on 29 August 1964, Tabitha studied at the University of Nairobi and Kenya Methodist University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Business Administration. She started her career as an accounting clerk in the Ministry of Tourism.

Tabitha married Joseph Mūigai Karanja. In 1997 they left the hardware business in Naivasha and began making fortified wine for the lower end of the market. After tax changes in 2007, they switched to bottled gin and vodka, and in 2008 added beer to their lineup with the Summit brand. In 2013 Keroche began a major expansion to increase beer production, and a new plant costing about 5 billion Kenyan shillings was opened in March 2015.

In politics, Tabitha won the Nakuru County Senate seat in the 2022 elections on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, receiving more votes than her main rival from the Jubilee Party. She and Joseph have four children: James, Anerlisa, Edward and Tecra (the late Tecra Mūigai). Her husband serves as Chairman of Keroche Breweries Limited.