President William Ruto appointed seven women to the 22 positions available in his cabinet on Tuesday.
Ruto did not achieve gender parity in his team as promised on the campaign trail, naming just seven women in his 22-member cabinet as men were assigned to 15 of the positions.
The seven women appointed include Aisha Juma Katamwa who will be in charge of the Public Service Gender and Affirmative Action docket, Alice Muthoni Wahome who will head the Water, Sanitation & Irrigation docket, Rebecca Miano who will head the East African Community and ASAL Development docket, Roselinda Soipan Tuya who will take charge of the Environment and Forestry docket, Peninah Malonza who will take over as the Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage CS, Susan Nakumincha Wafula who will head Health docket and Florence Bore who will be at the helm of the Labor and Social Protection docket.
However, a number of women were elevated to senior positions, including Monica Juma, a former foreign minister, who was named national security adviser.
The appointment of Harriet Chiggai and Mercy Wanjau by the Head of State will see the number of appointed women in Ruto’s government shoot up to 10.
The two women have been appointed as Women Rights Agency Advisor and Secretary to the Cabinet respectively.
President Ruto reiterated his commitment to fulfilling his manifesto promise just before the August 9 elections, saying women made up a large proportion of the Hustlers Nation, the slogan his campaign adopted to represent his support base.
A number of women who played key roles in Ruto’s election have already been elected or nominated to Parliament.
This was one of seven promises he made to women if elected.
He promised that the two-thirds gender rule would be implemented within his administration’s first three months in office.
