Mbugua is a male-to-female transgender woman born in Central Kenya.
In October 2014, in a landmark case, the High Court of Kenya ordered the Kenya National Examinations Council to change Mbugua's name on her academic certificates, which was listed as Andrew, and also to remove the male gender mark on them.
[1] Since transitioning, the fact her academic certificates no longer reflected her gender was preventing her from being employed.
In 2014, Mbugua was nominated for the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs' Human Rights Tulip award for her activism.
In 2018, the government of Kenya was ordered to pay Mbugua USD300,000 to cover her legal costs and special damages.