Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya’s son, Brandon Ambetsa, has graduated from Princeton University in the United States.
In a statement shared by Oparanya’s other son, Ian, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Brandon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in IT and Finance from the prestigious university.
“God has blessed our family again. So proud of my brother Brandon Ambetsa for graduating from Princeton University (Ivy League) with a degree in IT & Finance. He will definitely be a great man,” Ian stated.
Top academic destination
Regarded as one of the oldest universities in the United States, founded in 1746, Princeton has evolved into one of the top academic destinations, alongside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, where several Kenyan leaders have received their education.
Some notable personalities who attended Princeton University include former U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy, former First Lady Michelle Obama, billionaire Jeff Bezos, and Prison Break main actor Wentworth Miller, popularly known as Michael Scofield.
In Kenya, some notable personalities who have attended Ivy League universities include the late Barack Obama Senior, former Meru governor Kiraitu Murungi, former Makueni governor Kivutha Kibwana, former East African Community Affairs CS Adan Mohammed and former Treasury CS Henry Rotich, who all schooled at the prestigious Harvard University.
Notable alumni
The other notable personalities who graduated from Princeton University in Kenya are conservationist Paula Kahumbu, who studied for her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and former Vice President Josephat Karanja, who graduated from the institution in 1962.
In 2024, during his homecoming party after being sworn in as the Cooperatives CS, Oparanya revealed that he has two wives, Priscilla and Carol. He equally stated that he had a girlfriend who respected his two wives.
Oparanya equally indicated that he had 11 children with his two wives, noting that he was the only child of his parents, and he had taken it upon himself to have many children.
“My mother told me to be sincere. I was born alone, but my mother always told me to have more children to compensate for the siblings I lost,” Oparanya said during the ceremony.
His other children are Julio, who resides in the United Kingdom, Vanessa, who is a pilot and Oparanya Junior, among others.
“I named her after my mother. I named her Vanessa. She is a pilot and became a pilot at 23 years old. She is a pilot at Safarilink,” Oparanya said while introducing Vanessa.
