Gitura Mwaura

Gitura Mwaura is a Nairobi, Kenya-based writer currently working as a media consultant with various organisations. He is an author and development journalist previously involved in the areas of gender and HIV/Aids as a researcher and human rights activist working with various local and international non-governmental organisations.
Gitura has worked in both electronic and print media, and contributes to the local media, both in Rwanda and Kenya. He writes a weekly column with Rwanda’s The New Times newspaper.
His collection of short stories, Portraits of the Heart, was published in 2001. He co-authored the book, Resilience of a Nation: A History of the Military in Rwanda (2009). His book, The Painting: Four Sketches and a Poem, was published in 2013. A children’s book, as well as a historical book revolving around a family saga, are due to be published.
Gitura is formerly the chairperson of the Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines (KCAEM), which played an important role in successfully lobbying the Kenyan Government, Parliament and international pharmaceutical companies to enable easy access to essential for the treatment of malaria and TB, and, most notably, HIV anti-retroviral drugs.
He currently is the Program Associate with the regional East African Community Media Network (EACOMNET).

Gitura’s signature book, Portraits of the Heart, is a collection of eleven short stories that deal with such themes as separation, illness and death in the family setup. Other issues tackled in the book are AIDS, infertility and parent-children relationships.

The Painting: Four Sketches and a Poem is a collection of fiction stories depicting poignant and evocative moments in the lives of four women in Eastern Africa, including Lucy, the 3.2 million-old hominid famously believed to be one of the ancestors of modern humans.

Rwanda is believed to have emerged around the Tenth or Eleventh Century that endured a socio-military nation. Resilience of a Nation examines the role the military has played throughout the history of Rwanda to date. The book looks at the different phases the Rwandan military has undergone, from the traditional, the colonial and immediate post-independence military to the present.

One of the more prominent writers in the East African region, numerous Gitura Mwaura articles have been published by various newspapers and newsletters. These publications include The Standard, The New Times, The Daily Nation, The EastAfrican, Blogger News Network, etc.