Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.
Thursday's ruling by a three-judge bench that cleared the way for the swearing-in of Kenya's deputy president designate Abraham Kithure Kindiki, set the stage for the outgoing Interior Cabinet Secretary to become Kenya's 13th second-in-command since independence.
The man from Irunduni village, Tharaka Nithi County, was by no means poised for a more prominent role in President William Ruto's administration.
Elected to the Senate in the 2013 elections, Prof Kindiki rose to the position of Senate Majority Leader, where he served until 2017. He was then elected to the position of Deputy Speaker, where he served until 2020.
But in the run-up to the 2022 general election, he was poised for a major role that would put him a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Sometime in May 2022, a standoff ensued at the official residence of Dr Ruto, then Kenya's deputy president, in Karen, Nairobi.
The bone of contention was who would be Dr Ruto's presidential running mate.
After an hours-long standoff pitting Prof Kindiki against ousted Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, then Mathira MP, it forced Mt Kenya leaders to vote on their preferred deputy captain as Dr Ruto had reserved the running mate slot for the region.
Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki told the Nation that Prof Kindiki had won the majority of votes from the region's leaders and was, by all accounts, poised to be the United Democratic Alliance's (UDA) presidential running mate.
“I was in that meeting at Karen, over 90 percent of MPs voted for Prof Kindiki but the president in his own wisdom decided to go with Rigathi and we offered support despite having democratically expressed our preference,” Mr Mbiuki revealed.
In his own words, Dr Ruto explained his interest in having Prof Kindiki in the national political arena when he visited Kathwana in Tharaka Nithi County in June 2022.
“When I came to Kathwana and humbly asked you to give me this leader Abraham Kithure Kindiki, I asked you to donate him to me so that I have him in the national politics since he was now above being a senator or governor of Tharaka Nithi County.
“That day, I told you he was above being a governor and some of you were not happy, even refused to heed my call,” Dr Ruto explained.
Missed chance to be DP 'by a whisker'
He told the people of Tharaka Nithi, Prof Kindiki’s backyard, that the Interior CS had simply “missed the chance to be deputy president by a whisker.”
“…yet you are just taking him in circles, you want him to be a villager. In the UDA hierarchy, number one is hustler (Dr Ruto), number two is Gachagua and number three is Abraham Kithure Kindiki.
“Now a person who is number three in the national arena, you want to lock him here in the village?” the president asked.
By his own words, Dr Ruto seemed determined to empower Prof Kindiki.
His nomination to replace Mr Gachagua as Deputy President therefore came as no surprise to many in UDA and Kenya Kwanza Alliance circles.
The outgoing Interior CS does not have a long relationship with President Ruto, having been his lawyer when he was facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Born on July 16, 1972 in Irunduni village in Tharaka Constituency, Prof Kindiki is now just a heartbeat away from becoming the country's chief executive.
An advocate of the High Court of Kenya with 21 years of experience representing clients in both national and international courts, Prof Kindiki will be lucky twice over to secure the position he missed out on in 2022.
Prof Kindiki is the only Cabinet Secretary to have retained the portfolio he was appointed to in September 2022, with all other CSs appointed at the time either falling by the wayside or being reshuffled.
He was instrumental in the negotiations and legal drafting of the coalition between The National Alliance (TNA) and the United Republican Party in 2012, and the Kenya Kwanza Alliance coalition, which brings together 14 political parties in 2022.
Opinion polls
Prof Kindiki's candidacy appeared to have been boosted by recent opinion polls by two leading pollsters – Infotrak and Tifa – both of which put him ahead of the pack for the DP role.
While Infotrak's research showed that 20 percent of Kenyans preferred the former Interior CS to replace Mr Gachagua, Tifa ranked him even higher at 37 percent.
“Most Kenyans listed expertise and experience as the reasons why they chose their candidates, with Kindiki leading in this area,” the Infotrak research showed.
For Tifa, “most Kenyans expect Interior CS Kithure Kindiki to fill the vacancy if the current DP is removed, with this expectation being particularly strong among residents of the Mt. Kenya region.”
However, TIFA clarified that the survey did not measure the overall popularity of potential replacements for Gachagua.
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Key timelines
- Born on July 16, 1972 in Irunduni village Tharaka constituency.
- 52 years old.
- Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
- Attended Irunduni Primary School between 1980 and 1987 and Lenana School between 1988 and 1991.
- Graduated from Moi University with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) in 1998.
- Obtained a Masters of Law (LL.M) from the University of Pretoria in 2000.
- Earned his PhD in International Law from the University of Pretoria in 2002.
- Lecturer in Law at Moi University between 2000 and 2003 and University of Nairobi between 2003 and 2011.
- Served as the Head of the Department of Public Law at UoN from 2005-2007 and Associate Dean of the School of Law from 2007-2010.
- During his academic career, he was on various occasions a visiting lecturer at the University of Budapest, Hungary, the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
- He has published over 30 books and academic peer-reviewed journals.
- 2012-2015 represented William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
- In March 2013 was elected the Senator for Tharaka Nithi.
- 2013-2017, he served as the first Senate majority leader.
- In 2017, he was re-elected as Tharaka Nithi senator and served as deputy senate speaker for three years.
