Citizen TV's Linus Kaikai, on Thursday evening, expressed his disappointment that President Uhuru Kenyatta should have appointed a woman to the National Treasury.
According to the journalist, Transport PS, Esther Koimett, would have been the best fit to guard the country's purse.
He challenged President Kenyatta that he was at a point where he could manage to make bold decisions since he wasn't seeking reelection.
"Take Esther Koimett there, she's very qualified. It is an opportunity for the country to also break this ceiling. There has never been a female head of finance since independence," Kaikai noted.
The female technocrat, who the Citizen TV journalist fronted, is the daughter of the powerful late Minister Nicholas Biwott.
The Master of Business Administration graduate went to school at Kessup Girls in Tambach, for her secondary education before joining Nairobi University where she did a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
In her long career as a civil servant, she served as PS in the Ministry of Tourism and Information and Managing Director, Kenya Post Office Savings Bank.
Koimett also worked in the National Treasury as an investment secretary.
As the investment secretary, Esther’s work involved looking at government institutions and recommending whether they should be sold to private investors, through a common process referred to as privatisation, or not.
“The impact privatisation has had on the Nairobi Securities Exchange has been tremendous. We have given a lot of depth to the NSE through the privatisation programme,” says Esther as she takes stock of her milestones at the National Treasury," she told Business Daily during a past interview.
She worked under the stewardship of Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua who was also at the Treasury.
"He leads from the front and you work hard because your boss works hard. He listens and gives guidance. I think I have been lucky in that way. Having very supportive bosses and then getting the opportunity to work and learn,” Esther narrated to journalists.
Away from work, she loves to swim whenever time allows. This is how she has been able to deal with the pressures of her demanding job, evident from the stack of files in every corner of her office.
Although she acknowledges that her job is tough, Esther who is a technocrat, wife and a mother of four – a daughter, two sons and a daughter-in-law – has learnt over time to balance family and career.
“I’m much more of an office-to-home person. My life is between my work and my family,” she explained.
“Sometimes to balance that time, when you have a young family and a demanding job can be a little difficult. But I am lucky that I have a very supportive husband,” Koimett added.
