The Accountant
Charity Muya – Ngauriya has always been comfortable standing out in a man’s world. If she did not, she would not have had a successful career in the world of finance. This quiet and unassuming alumna from Highlands School Eldoret was amongst the first ladies to graduate from the University of Nairobi with a BComm degree in 1972. While she had four other female classmates, she alone went on to pursue her chartered accountancy qualifications and garnered her place as the first female in the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) with registration number 061 in 1976.
Charity has been a boon to the accounting profession, showing that this male dominated profession can be a comfortable place for a woman, too; for anyone blessed with integrity and an eye for detail.
Building a name for herself by excelling in accounting services during the heyday of the Nairobi City Council in the 70s where she rose to the position of Deputy Chief Accountant, Charity was able to strike out on her own and open the first female headed solo audit practice – Muya and Associates in 1980. Many of today’s CPAs interned and were mentored into the profession in her modest office in Westlands.
A few years later she was the 24th CPA in Kenya admitted to the ICPAK College of Fellows based on demonstrated leadership in the profession. Charity continued to support the sector as exemplified by her service as a founder Trustee of the Kenya College of Accountancy and as a member of the Governing Council of KCA University. Recognised by the global Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2010 for her commitment to the accounting profession in Kenya, she just keeps rising.
A lifelong learner, Charity enrolled for her MBA at her alma mater 34 years after graduating with her BComm. She received her master’s in 2006, and in 2016 enrolled for her PhD in Business Administration at the same institution, a reminder that even for those that have excelled learning never ends.
We salute ICPAK 061 – Charity Muya Ngaruiya for holding the bar high in the accounting profession.
