Hon. Grace Monica Akech Onyango was the first Kenyan woman Mayor  elected in Kisumu in 1965.  She was also the first woman to be elected MP for Kisumu Town in 1969 and served until 1983. She was the first woman Secretary-General of Luo Union (East Africa) and the first woman councilor of Kaloleni ward in Kisumu. Mama Grace Onyango was a teacher-turned-politician she was the first woman Assistant Commissioner of the Girl Guide Association and the Chair of Child Welfare Society, Kisumu District

She was awarded the Order of the Burning Spear, 1st Class, Chief of the Burning Spear (CBS)