President William Ruto nominated Kithure Kindiki as the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government taking over from Fred Matiang’i who was the CS under Uhuru Kenyatta’s government.
Professor Abraham Kithure Kindiki, a soft-spoken academic-turned-politician, was a prominent figure in President William Ruto’s campaign over the last four years.
Kindiki was believed to be the top frontrunner for running mate at one point, but last-minute intrigues saw Rigathi Gachagua preferred ahead of him.
Prof. Kithure Kindiki, from Irunduni village in Tharaka Constituency, began with an academic career. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from Moi University before going on to earn a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law and Democracy and a PhD in International Law from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
He was a law lecturer at Moi University from 2000 to 2003, then at the University of Nairobi from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, he was promoted to head of the department of public law and later to associate dean of the school at the same university.
The fifth child in a family of nine would officially join the government in 2008, as secretary of cohesion in the Justice Ministry under the NARC government, a position he held for only 100 days before resigning to resume his teaching career.
Kindiki’s political star began to rise in 2012, when he accepted the task of defending William Ruto in the crimes against humanity case at the Hague. The high-profile case marked the beginning of the DP’s relationship with his now-long-time ally.
Kindiki entered electoral politics on a Jubilee Alliance ticket, an alliance that included The National Alliance (TNA) Party and the United Republican Party (URP), among others, riding on the political visibility bestowed by the ICC.
In the run-up to the 2013 election, he was a member of the team that drafted the party’s constitution and manifesto. He ran for and was elected as Tharaka Nithi County’s first senator, a position he held for two terms.
Between 2013 and 2017, Kindiki was appointed Senate Majority Leader, bringing him closer to the country’s center of power. He also served as deputy senate speaker during his second term, until he was de-whipped in 2020.
Kithure Kindiki, an alumni of Irunduni Primary School and Lenana High School, appears to have risen through the Kenya Kwanza ranks through a careful blend of calculation and luck. Prof. Kindiki dropped his bid for the Tharaka Nithi gubernatorial seat at the request of Deputy President William Ruto in favor of the incumbent, Muthomi Njuki.
The 49-year-old father of three is widely regarded as the brains behind Kenya Kwanza’s coalition power-sharing agreement. Kindiki has extensive experience in International Law and Research, having worked with organizations such as the UN and the International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Section.
