Kiambu's potential deputy governors speak out

The swearing in of Dr James Karanja Nyoro as the new Kiambu governor could have opened an opportunity to ensure the gender equality quest in county leadership is realised as enshrined in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.

A campaign to have Dr Nyoro nominate a female deputy has started in earnest with a number of women being fronted for the position.

The bid kicked-off last Friday during Nyoro’s swearing in after the County Assembly Speaker Stephen Ndichu asked the new governor to consider nominating a female deputy.

“The position of the deputy governor is now vacant and it is open to anybody, I have talked to the governor and he has told me he has no problem nominating a lady,” said Mr Ndichu.

Former Kiambu gubernatorial hopeful in 2017 elections Ms Aquiline Njoki and former Ruiru MP Esther Gathogo are among those being considered as front-runners with their names featuring prominently.

Njoki together with other three gubernatorial aspirants namely Nyoro, David Kariuki Ngare alias Gakuyo and John Mugwe shelved their ambitions in the run up to the 2017 general election to support former governor Ferdinand Waititu.

In the deal that saw the hopefuls form a coalition ‘United for Kiambu’, which saw Waititu dislodge former governor William Kabogo from office, Njoki was to be the county executive in-charge of trade and legal affairs.

Failed promise

However, after Waititu took office, he never kept the promise only appointing her a member of the County Public Service Board (CPSB) albeit after protests.

Yesterday, Njoki said she would not mind being nominated as deputy governor as she has what it takes to steer the county forward.

“We should follow the spirit of the BBI, which envisages we have gender balance in county leadership. I sacrificed my gubernatorial ambitions together with others for the love that we had for Kiambu,” she said.

She is a technologist from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) and also has a Masters in human resource management. Njoki vied for woman representative position in 2013, but lost.

Former Ruiru MP Esther Gathogo has also been mentioned as a possible nominee. She, however, said she has only seen her name being circulated in social media, but pushes for old and current leaders in Kiambu to support the new governor.

“The new governor needs the support of leaders and residents so that he can deliver on the promise they made during the campaigns,” said Ms Gathogo.

Former Kiambu Woman Representative Anna Nyokabi who has also been mentioned as a potential deputy governor played down her chances of becoming one.

“The new governor should be given time as he has a lot of work ahead of him. Let’s not engage in unnecessary speculations,” she said.

Prof Mugenda

Former Kenyatta University Vice-Chancellor Prof Olive Mugenda’s name has also been fronted.

In the run-up to the 2017 general election, there were rumours that Prof Mugenda had considered vying for Kiambu governor.

She, however, dismissed the rumours saying she had no intention of venturing into politics.

“I have never thought of joining politics and my profession has never been about politics. Ideally, the gubernatorial position ought to have been that of a CEO, but it has turned out to be political and in such environments, service delivery is a headache,” she said then.

Gladys Chania, who also vied for Kiambu Woman representative in 2017 but lost to Gathoni Wamuchomba has also been mentioned.

Ms Chania said she fails to understand why a county like Kiambu lacks proper leadership despite having many able men and women.

“Given a chance, I can serve the county in any managerial level out of passion, diligence and qualification. We, however, need Kiambu East or lower Kiambu to be considered,” she said.

Ms Chania, a trained teacher, has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Justice and Security Studies, and a Masters Child and Adult psychology.

A section of professionals drawn from Kiambu East which comprises Thika, Ruiru, Juja, Gatundu North and Gatundu South at the weekend pushed for the nomination of a female deputy from the area.

Led by Muiga Rigara, they regretted that despite Kiambu East being more populous than Kiambu West, and being the source of the chunk of the county revenue, the region has always been side-lined when it comes to senior county positions.

High revenue base

“It is a high time Kiambu East was rewarded owing to the high population and also being the source of high revenue base for the county,” said Mr Rugara.

During his swearing in as Kiambu’s third governor, Nyoro promised to consider gender and regional balance in the appointment of his deputy.

BBI report proposes that in future, governors and their deputy governors should be of the opposite sex.

“This will equalise both genders in political terms, rather than creating a parallel system that creates a sense of tokenism,” the report points out.

During the 2017 election, a handful of governors appointed deputies from the opposite gender.

They include Governors Salim Mvurya (Kwale), Granton Samboja (Taita Taveta), Stephen Sang (Kericho), Samuel Tunai (Narok), Paul Chepkwony (Kericho), the late Joyce Laboso (Bomet), Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni), Stephen Sang (Nandi), Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua) and Ann Waiguru (Kirinyaga).