Anne Waiguru

Anne Waiguru
Cabinet Secretary for Devolution
In office
15 May 2013 – 21 November 2015
President Uhuru Kenyatta
Personal details
Nationality Kenyan
Children 3
Alma mater University of Nairobi
Religion Christian

Anne Waiguru is a Kenyan who served as the first Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. She was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta to the position on 25 April 2013,[1] holding a master's degree in Economic Policy from the University of Nairobi, and having experience in finance, financial management systems, public service reform and capacity building, and governance. She is behind establishment of Huduma Centres, places where Kenyan citizens can access government services more efficiently,[2][3] as well as the 30% procurement rule, which accords at least 30 per cent of all supply contracts to the government to the youth, persons with disability and women.[4]

Following the 2015 National Youth Service corruption scandal, in which approximately Kshs. 1.4 billion was stolen from the National Youth Service, a programme under the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Waiguru resigned from her position as Cabinet Secretary, with Festus Mwangi Kiunjuri taking her place.

Education

Waiguru attended Precious Blood Riruta High school then later sat her A-level exams in 1989 at the Moi Forces Academy in Nairobi after studying Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Upon graduating from the University of Nairobi, she worked for Transparency International as an intern and research assistant, and then joined the Kenya Leadership Institute.[5] Waiguru holds a Master's Degree in Economic Policy from the University of Nairobi, and has specialized experience in public finance, financial management systems, public service reform, capacity building and governance.[6]

Career

Waiguru began her career in the public service by providing Technical Assistance to the Public Service Reform Secretariat in what was then the Cabinet Office. She then served as the Head of Governance and the Economic Stimulus Programme at the National Treasury, alternate to the Permanent Secretary/National Treasury in the Public Procurement Oversight Authority and Advisory Board and the Women Enterprise Fund Board.[7] She was successfully nominated in 2011 as one of the Top 40 under 40 women in the country, the only nominee at the time from the Public Service.[8]

Waiguru was the Director, Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS), and Head of Governance at the National Treasury. She served briefly as a Senior Public Sector Manager/Assistant Vice President, at Citi-group. Previously, she served as a Technical Advisor in the Cabinet Office, Office of the President on secondment from the World Bank.[1] Waiguru has served as the Alternate to the Permanent Secretary National Treasury in the Public Procurement Oversight Authority Advisory Board, and, the Women Enterprise Fund Board.[1]

As of the end of August 2016,Anne Waiguru has declared her interest in politics and registered for TNA membership. This is in preparation for the 2017 general election where she is planning to vie for the Kirinyaga County gubernatorial seat.

If elected, she may be the first female governor in Kenya. She will also join the club of many Kenyan politicians with questionable integrity who hold office. Kenyans On Twitter are highly critical of Waiguru's intent to run for public office after a highly publicized corruption plot at the National Youth Service that led to her resignation.

Corruption allegations

In September 2015, Waiguru was asked by the director of public prosecutions in Kenya to record statements about disappearance of Kshs 791M (which was approx USD 7.9M) from the coffers of the National Youth Service (NYS) which is a department in the ministry she heads.[9]

The Kenyan Parliamentary Accounts Committee found that the Devolution ministry, where she served as a Cabinet Secretary, spent KSh450,000 ($4500) for 18 custom-made condom dispensers. The ministry's asset register also revealed Sh1.7 million ($17000) was spent for an HD television set in Anne Waiguru's office and Sh12 million ($120000) for an office partition, in the 2013/2014 financial year.[10] The register, presented by the ministry's Principal Secretary Peter Mangiti, listed purchase of a copier at Sh1.5 million ($15000), while Sh1.9million ($19000) was spent for free downloadable Adobe software and Sh250,000 ($2500) for ten flashdisks/memory sticks.[11] These prices were so ridiculous and so highly inflated that they sparked uproar in political quarters and among the Kenyan public. Headlines around the world, including those such as "sex toys listed among state assets" appeared, putting the spotlight on the unraveling scandal.

Facing a storm of calls to quit office from the opposition and some members of the government, Waiguru claimed that the allegations against her were personal attacks and pointed out that corruption is endemic in other ministries in the Kenyan government but the media was not pointing it out. She said in remarks posted on her Facebook page: "It's amazing that whereas there are similar and more serious allegations of misuse of funds in many government departments there is never the personalized level of attack on CBS (Cabinet Secretaries) that has been directed at me. Surely this is no longer about the fight against corruption".[12] In fact, President Uhuru Kenyatta had suspended and sacked 5 Cabinet secretaries before Waiguru's woes, all over allegations of corruption, belying her statement that only she or her ministry was being targeted. On the contrary, her case seemed an oddity to the public, presenting the picture that she was being spared while others were being dropped from Cabinet.

Despite demands for her sacking, President Uhuru Kenyatta and top government officials, including the Deputy President William Ruto and Majority leader Aden Duale stood by her, dismissing the allegations as propaganda advanced by the opposition. An attempt to introduce a motion for impeachment in the National Assembly was defeated through concerted pressure from forces allied to the president. It has been speculated in some circles as an explanation to her apparent immunity, that she has an intimate relationship with the President, an insinuation made in a public utterance by an opposition politician, Johnson Muthama , but has been firmly denied and fiercely tongue-lashed by the president and his circle .

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Anne Waiguru CV". Nairobi: State House. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Kenya launches Huduma e-centre to cut bureaucracy". BBC Africa. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES (AGPO)". Youth Enterprise Development Fund. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "New procurement laws to spur economic growth". Business Daily. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Transition from Transparency International to Devolution ministry Waiguru's tale". Nation Media Group. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Ms. Ann Waiguru, School of Business". uonbi.ac.ke. University of Nairobi. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru- Beauty, Brains, Power!". Standard Digital Edition. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Anne Waiguru, O.G.W". The Presidency. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Police seek three more weeks to conclude NYS investigations". Business Daily. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Ngirachu, John (3 November 2015). "MPs query inflated expenses in Waiguru's office". Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Waiguru's office Sh1.7 million TV, Sh450,000 condom dispensers raise eyebrows | The Star". www.the-star.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  12. ↑ "Anne Waiguru: I do not have TV screen worth Sh1.7m in my office". Standard Digital News. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
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