Kibaki was born in 1931 in Gatuyaini village, Othaya division of

Kenya's then Nyeri District, now Nyeri County . He is the youngest

son of Kikuyu peasants Kibaki Gthnji and Teresia Wanjik.
Though baptised as Emilio Stanley by Italian missionaries in his
youth, he has been known as Mwai Kibaki throughout his public
life.[3]
Family oral history maintains that his early education was made
possible by his much older brother-in-law, Paul Muruthi, who
insisted that young Mwai should go to school instead of spending
his days grazing his father's sheep and cattle and baby-sitting his
little nephews and nieces for his older sister.Kibaki turned out to
be an exemplary student. He attended Gatuyain School for the
first two years, where he completed what was then called Sub "A"
and sub "B" (the equivalent of standard one and two or first and
second grade). He later joined Karima mission school for the
three more classes of primary school. He later moved to Mathari
School (now Nyeri High School) between 1944 and 1946 for
Standard four to six, where, in addition to his academic studies,
he learnt carpentry and masonry as students would repair
furniture and provide material for maintaining the school's
buildings. He also grew his own food as all students in the school
were expected to do, and earned extra money during the school
holidays by working as a conductor on buses operated by the
defunct Othaya African Bus Union. After Karima Primary and
Nyeri Boarding primary schools, he proceeded to Mang'u High
School where he studied between 1947 and 1950. He passed with
a maximum of six points in his "O" level examination.[4]
Influenced by the veterans of the First and Second World Wars in
his native village, Kibaki considered becoming a soldier in his
final year in Mang'u. However, a ruling by the Chief colonial
secretary, Walter Coutts, which barred the recruitment of the
Kikuyu, Embu and Meru communities into the army, put paid to
his military aspirations. Kibaki instead attended Makerere
University in Kampala, Uganda, where he studied Economics,
History and Political Science, and graduated best in his class in
1955 with a First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Economics.[4]
After his graduation, Kibaki took up an appointment as Assistant
Sales Manager Shell Company of East Africa, Uganda Division.
During the same year, he earned a scholarship entitling him to
postgraduate studies in any British University. He consequently
enrolled at the prestigious London School of Economics for a
B.Sc. in public finance, graduating with a distinction. He went
back to Makerere in 1958 where he taught as an Assistant
Lecturer in the economics department until 1960.[4] In 1962,
Kibaki married Lucy Muthoni, the daughter of a Church Minister,
who was then a secondary school Head Teacher.[4]