Draft:Leonard Ithau

Leonard Ithau was born on April 21^st 1961 in London, England. He is the son of the late John Ithau and the late Phoebe Mueni Ithau. He has five siblings Grace, Charles, Sophia, Dennis and Pamela. He is married to Patricia Ithau and they have two daughters, Mueni and Makena.

Education

Leonard attended Kilimani Primary School (1967–1973) where he did his Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) and later joined Lenana School for his high school studies (1974–1979). After completing his Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE) examination at Lenana School in 1979, he proceeded to the University of Nairobi (UON) where in 1984 he graduated with an honours bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

In 1989, he joined the University of Birmingham, England for his Master of Science (Engineering) degree in Construction Management. In 2013, Leonard joined Strathmore University Business School for the Advanced Management Programme (AMP).

Throughout his school life, Leonard has been active in extracurricular activities - such as being a member of the debate and drama clubs. From a very young age Leonard understood a very important principle; that if he was to excel in his education and later on in life, he had to be constantly present and participate in all that was before him. It was this kind of attitude that saw him win class prizes throughout his studies and has made him approach life with a positive and pragmatic attitude.

Career

Leonard Ithau is a registered engineer in Kenya and professional project advisor with over 38 years of experience in senior project advisory, design and construction management roles on major civil engineering, infrastructure and building works in Kenya and the broader Southeast Africa region.

His main career begun in the public sector in January 1992 at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) at a time when the Authority was undertaking a massive expansion programme covering harbor works, housing, container depots, roads, container stacking yards, railway lines, sidings and projects at Inland Container Depots in Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret.

His career then extended into private sector where he was responsible for running complete project programmes for blue chip firms like: Mobil Oil Kenya Ltd (an ExxonMobil company), BAT Kenya Ltd (a British American Tobacco company), Mumias Sugar Co. Ltd., Safaricom Ltd. and The Nairobi Hospital.

In May 1997, he started his own company Quemec Limited, a capital projects and infrastructure advisory consultancy firm. As executive director the company has been at the helm of major projects such as the construction of the Safaricom Headquarter (II) and the Safaricom 600 pax call center.

Rotary life

In 2014, Leonard joined the Rotary Club of Nairobi, Karen. The reason for joining Rotary was because he felt the need to do more in service to his community and country. As a Rotarian, Leonard has championed various projects like: the distribution of Oxford University Press textbooks to different schools in Kenya, and the development of a standard container library to provide children in the Karen community with a place they can access books and quench their thirst for knowledge.

As a Rotarian, Leonard has served in various positions at Club and District level. He has been Club Speaker, Club Secretary, Club Treasurer, Club President, Chair for the Executive Committee for District 9212 which includes Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea, South Sudan and Ethiopia and in July, 2023 he will be Rotary District Governor for District 9212 taking over from the current District Governor Azeb Asrat.