Madam governor: Tactics the seven women candidates used to win elections

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru defended her seat in the August 9, 2022 General Election. [Standard]

Calculating, intelligent and confident: that is Anne Waiguru.

Regardless who won the seat of Kirinyaga governor in the August 9, 2022 General Election, the county would have still produced a female governor.

Waiguru's main rival, Wangui Ngirici, is an equally astute woman, with enviable grassroots mobilisation skills and wealth to put up a strong show in any county elective contest.

She lost the recent gubernatorial race to the incumbent, Waiguru, by a trifling 7,411 votes. Waiguru got 113,088 votes against Ngirici's 105,677.

Observers say Waiguru's major advantage over Ngirici was the political party that she ran on - the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The William Ruto-led party strode across Mt. Kenya region like a colossus. Its wave was difficult for any contender to upset. Ngirici dared, and she was almost there.

For Waiguru, 51, she had the last laugh. Her ability to quickly read the situation, prompted her to ditch the Jubilee Party that she'd previously defended passionately.

A late-comer to UDA Party she was, but still managed to elbow out Ngirici, who said she'd spent millions of shillings to popularise UDA in Mt. Kenya. Waiguru joined UDA in late October 2021.

In my preceding paragraphs, I called Waiguru calculating. In July this year, as the elections were fast-approaching, she absorbed 420 ECDE teachers into permanent employment schemes. Around the same time, she reinstated 72 healthcare workers whom she'd suspended from work. In February this year, she rolled out a bursary programme that cost the county millions of shillings. These acts, and many others, endeared her to the electorate. She knew what to do, when to do and how to do them. This calculating approach and the right political party ensured she became the first female governor to win in two general elections.

Gladys Wanga

Nakuru governor-elect Susan Kihika. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

She's a no pushover.

Susan Wakarura Kihika, the daughter of powerful Moi-era politician Kihika Kimani, defied the odds to beat a widely-adored and respected governor, Lee Kinyanjui.

She is now Nakuru's third governor and only the second female governor in the Rift Valley region after the late Dr Joyce Laboso of Bomet.

Just like Wanga, Kihika retreated to her native home, Nakuru, to engage in politics. A key defender of Deputy President William Ruto, Kihika abandoned the national political campaigns to concentrate on her gubernatorial quest. After all, all politics is local.

However, she ensured that her campaign for Ruto, who enjoys an overwhelming support in the Rift Valley region, continued alongside her gubernatorial foray. Her political alignment paid off, when she floored Lee Kinyanjui in the governorship contest.

In the lead-up to the August 9 polls, few imagined that the 48-year-old would dethrone a governor who oversaw Nakuru's ascension to city status.

However, her affiliation to Ruto, a larger than life figure in Rift Valley, and her association with the right party, UDA, made her sellable in Nakuru, a county that is dominated by two ethnic communities (Kikuyu and Kalenjin) that pledge support to Ruto.

Kihika polled 440,707 votes against Lee Kinyanjui's 225,623 to become the third governor - and first female governor - of Kenya's fourth city.

Her predecessors are Kinuthia Mbugua and the incumbent Lee Kinyanjui.

Kihika's route to governorship includes serving as Speaker of Nakuru County Assembly between 2013 and 2017 and Senator of the county between 2017 and 2022.

Wavinya Ndeti

Fatuma Achani with Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya. [File, Standard]

At slightly over 40 years, Fatuma Achani is the consummate deputy.

At no single time, did she sabotage her boss Salim Mvurya, the governor of Kwale County between 2013 and 2022.

For ten years, she knew her place - that she was the principal assistant of the governor, and that the top seat belonged to Mvurya only.

And when Mvurya, who has Ruto's ear, suggested that Achani would make a good gubernatorial candidate for UDA in the 2022 polls, the deputy president welcomed the proposal.

Achani, a lawyer by profession, faced stiff competition in the August 9, 2022 General Election from ODM's Hamadi Boga to become the first female governor of Kwale County and the larger Coast region.

Achani got 59,674 votes against the former Agriculture PS's 53,972 votes.

Her boss, Mvurya, is a darling of Kwale people, and his spirited campaign for Achani's candidature helped a lot in her path to victory.

Achani often introduces Mvurya as "Gavana wa nguvu (a great governor)" during public addresses. Those who know her well, say she's a leader who "strives to get things right".

In 2020, she expressed optimism that Mvurya would support her gubernatorial ambition.

"I've had an impressive working relationship with my boss and other county officials. That's why I'm confident that my boss will return the favour and support my bid in 2022," she said.

Achani holds a Law degree from Moi University and a diploma from the Kenya School of Law.

Before joining politics in 2013, she worked as an associate advocate at Maina Njanga & Company Advocates in Mombasa, and also served as a legal counsel and programme officer for the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Kenya).

Appreciating the role that Mvurya played in her campaigns, Achani said in her victory speech: "I want to thank my boss Mvurya for the support that he gave me. I also want to thank my husband. This was a rough journey but I'm happy I made it through."

Kawira Mwangaza

Embu governor-elect Cecily Mbarire. [File, Standard]

Nominated MP Cecily Mutitu Mbarire joins Kawira Mwangaza as the first female governors from the Upper Eastern region in Kenya's history.

The 49-year-old was first elected as the MP of Runyenjes Constituency in the 2007 elections. However, before that, she served as a Nominated MP between 2003 and 2007.

In the March 4, 2013 General Election, she defended her Runyenjes parliamentary seat on The National Alliance (TNA) Party.

In the run-up to the subsequent August 2017 elections, she expressed interest in the gubernatorial contest.

However, during the April 2017 Jubilee Party primaries, she got 41,987 votes against the incumbent Martin Wambora's 60,549 votes.

She'd subsequently be nominated by Jubilee Party to the National Assembly.

As Wambora finished his second and final term this year, Mbarire set her sights again on the governorship.

She received direct UDA ticket to run for Embu governor in the August 9, 2022 General Election.

In the just-concluded polls, she ran against Lenny Kivuti of the Devolution Empowerment Party (DEP), famously known as 'Bus'.

Mbarire was declared the winner of the governorship race after getting 108,610 votes against Kivuti's 105,246 votes.

Mbarire holds a Bachelor of Economics Degree from Egerton University.