President William Ruto yesterday nominated seven women to his new cabinet.

 Ruto also nominated three other women to positions of Cabinet level.

 The names of the nominees will now be forwarded to the National Assembly for vetting before they are formally appointed.

 “It is important we set up the new Cabinet early so that we can quickly take charge of the affairs of the country and begin the process of implementing the plan that we set out before the people of Kenya and persuade them to vote for us,” said Ruto when he unveiled his cabinet.

 Ruto had in May this year, during the unveiling of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate, promised that half of Cabinet slots would be women.

 While speaking during the Kenya Kwanza women charter conference in June, the president also pledged that his administration would implement the two-thirds gender rule in government appointments within the first three months of his administration by ensuring  a 50-50% gender reprsentation.

Female nominees

 He also promised to introduce a women’s rights agency to protect women from Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and ensure that all land transactions are consented to by women.

 Among the female nominees to the cabinet are former Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa who contested the Kilifi governor’s seat but lost to former Lands Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Gideon Mung’aro. Jumwa has been nominated to head the Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action docket while Alice Wahome who is currently the Kandara MP will now head the Water and Sanitation docket.

 Wahome together with Deputy President William Ruto and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro were instrumental in getting votes for Ruto in the Mount Kenya region where he garnered more than 80 percent of the vote.

 Nominated senator and former Narok Woman Representative Soipan Tuya was nominated to the environment docket while Rebecca Miano was nominated to the East Africa Community, Arid and Semi-Arid docket.

 Tuya was instrumental in the Kenya Kwanza campaigns as he chaired the coalition’s women charters while Miano is the first female Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the largest power production firm in East Africa.

 Miano, is a lawyer and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Laws in Comparative Law from the University of Australia.

Unsuccessfully contested

 Penina Malonza, a former Kitui deputy governor between 2013 and 2017 was nominated to the Tourism docket while the health docket formerly held by former Nyeri senator Mutahi Kagwe will now be headed by Susan Nakhumicha Wafula who unsuccessfully contested the Trans Nzoia Woman Representative’s seat in the last general election.

 Florence Bore who has been appointed to the labour docket is a former Kericho county women representative.

 Ruto also named outgoing Energy cabinet secretary Monica Juma as the National Security advisor.

 Harriet Chiggai who is the Amani National Elections Board chair and former Vice president of Law Society of Kenya has been named as the Women’s rights agency advisor.

 Chiggai had applied to sit in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as a commissioner.

 Mercy Wanjau who had been appointed as interim Director-General to replace Francis Wangusi Communications Authority (CA) was appointed as the secretary to the cabinet.

 On Saturday, former Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu had challenged President William Ruto fulfill his promise of allocating eleven cabinet slots to women.

 ‘He promised 50 per cent of the 11 women in the cabinet that we can support. Let’s wait and see,” she said