My advice for Waiguru regarding governor’s job

What you need to know:

  • Upon her resignation from the Cabinet last month, Ms Waiguru asked the President to consider assigning her “lighter duties,” suggesting that she was open to another public service appointment.
  • Some speculative media reports have even linked her to a State House job in the planned Budget office.

The Josephine Kabura affidavit has brought former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru back in the headlines.

From her initial reaction on Twitter, Ms Waiguru seemed miffed at the fact that the sworn statement implicating her in a wicked conspiracy to cover up her role in the NYS scandal had somehow made top news.

Well, real media gurus will tell her that sizzling hot delicious stories don’t come more headline-ready to the newsroom than this.

If you are the news editor and a reporter walks to your desk with a sheaf of court papers detailing how a scandalised former powerful minister and a “hairdresser” allegedly sat somewhere tossing money bags back and forth, the first thing you will most likely do is rise and hug the reporter.

And it is not always that we in the media get to have a second bite of the cherry – the kind Ms Kabura served up last week in NYS Scandal Season II.
Long may it last!

Ms Waiguru’s discomfort at the manner the Kabura affidavit has refocused the spotlight on her is understandable though.

Upon her resignation from the Cabinet last month, Ms Waiguru asked the President to consider assigning her “lighter duties,” suggesting that she was open to another public service appointment.

STATE HOUSE JOB

Some speculative media reports have even linked her to a State House job in the planned Budget office.

Being bogged down in a new graft mudfest will put paid to her dreams of returning to the public service in the foreseeable future.

The folks at Integrity House look set to process Ms Waiguru through their picturesque revolving doors only days after clearing her – a spectacle that is sure to keep her in the headlines for a few more days.

For all his bravery when it comes to rewarding his people with State jobs, it is hard to imagine President Kenyatta ignoring the public sentiment polluted by the Kabura affidavit and appointing the former minister to another public office soon.

If I were Ms Waiguru’s political oracle, I would advise her to get over her public service hangovers quick and concentrate on building her new political career.

As she may well know, Kenyan politics is an ethically low-entry field where integrity counts for nothing and being associated with a scandal is a perfect audition for an elective seat. The results of a new opinion poll released by ITF Research on Thursday suggest that Nairobi voters won’t be too bothered about corruption allegations against a candidate for the governor’s job.

The poll found that the frontrunners are Governor Evans Kidero, formerly of Mumias Sugar, and Senator Mike Sonko.

In the last election, Nairobians had to choose between Mr Kidero and Mr Ferdinand Waititu.

You get the feeling that Ms Waiguru has more to fear about her gender than her integrity against such opponents.

[email protected]. @otienootieno