WOMEN ASK PRESIDENT RUTO TO RETURN FAVOUR AS THEY ENDORSE
WAIGURU FOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT
Hundreds of women from Kirinyaga have asked President William Ruto to reciprocate
their support by appointing Governor Anne Waiguru as the Deputy President.
They endorsed Waiguru as the most suitable candidate to take up the Deputy
President’s position should Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment sail through.
Speaking in Kutus town, the women who included community leaders drawn from all the
20 wards said Kenya is now ripe for a woman Deputy President and Waiguru was a
sure bet for the position.
They asked President Ruto to return the DP position to Mt. Kenya Region and this time
give it to a woman in keeping with his promise of having a female running mate in
future.
“As residents of the Mountain and Kirinyaga, we fully supported President Ruto in 2022
and we are asking him that should that opportunity arise, he should reciprocate our
support by giving us Waiguru as the Deputy President” said Mary Nyawira.
She said that Waiguru has a proven track record in transformational leadership as seen
in Kirinyaga where she has supported thousands of households to implement economic
empowerment programs that have uplifted the lives of county residents.
“If that opportunity comes, we know that governor Anne Waiguru has what it takes to
lead the country into greater prosperity. If she has done it Kirinyaga, she can as well do
it in the entire country. We are also confident that she can uplift the lives of women and
children in the whole country” added Nyawira.
She said that even though they hadn’t envisioned the current turn of events, the region
is not short of able leaders adding that they will be appeased if the seat was given back
to one of their own should there be such an eventuality.
“We have our back-up plan which is Governor Anne Waiguru, whose track record has
been exceptional. As a county we have reaped the best from devolution courtesy of
governor Waiguru. We don’t want just a woman, but we want a women who can
deliver. That woman is Waiguru and we are giving her to Kenyans” said Khadija
Wanjiru.
Wanjiru cited Waiguru’s vast expertise in economic policy and governance,
development track record and education as key ingredients to helping the President get
the country back on track.
The women said that they are aware that the seat might be falling vacant but then, the
people of the mountain are not orphans since they have tried and tested leaders such
as Waiguru.
She noted that Waiguru has turned Kirinyaga into a benchmark for other counties in
terms of development and as far as giving life to Ruto’s Bottom Up Economic Transform
Agenda at the grassroots.
Their sentiments were echoed by Irene Wakio who noted that women have always
wanted to be represented at the top and should that chance come, the president should
consider giving it to Waiguru. They reminded the president of his pledge to support
alternative gender leadership where if the president is a man, the deputy is a woman
and vice versa.
“Kirinyaga has the best female candidate and we are appealing to you to take her as
your deputy and we assure you she will not put us to shame. Waiguru is a worker, she
has a national vision and does not discriminate,” said Wakio.
Since Deputy President Gachagua’s impeachment process commenced, there have
been calls to replace him with a candidate from the Mountain region, with intense
lobbying by women across the country to have woman appointed to the position.
On Monday, groups of women in Murang’a and Nairobi counties called on the president
to appoint Waiguru hailing her as the best suited candidate who has a national outlook
and comes with experience needed to take the country forward. They termed her as a
leader who is not concerned about tribal affiliations but rather interested in service
delivery to the people.
Even before the process to impeach Rigathi commenced, governor Waiguru had
already started getting endorsements to run for DP position in 2027. In a recent G7
Strategy activation in Kirinyaga, more than 30 leaders from across the country hailed
the governor as best suited candidate to take the mantle of DP given that she had
already shuttered the glass ceiling both at National and county levels.
Leaders including governors, members of parliament, members of various county
assemblies as well as Idah Odinga, wife of former Prime Minster showered praises on
her as progressive leader and a woman of many firsts whose development record both
at the National and county government is outstanding.
The two-term governor had served as a Cabinet Secretary before joining politics in
- She also became the first women to Chair the Council of Governors. At the
National level, she will be remembered for having transformed public service delivery
through initiatives such as Huduma Centers, Integrated Financial Management
Information System (FMIS) and Access to Government Procurement Opportunities
(AGPO)
At the county level, she became the first governor to come up with a development
sessional paper, ‘The Mountain Cities Blueprint 2032’ which guides the implementation
of Kirinyaga’s development agenda.
