When Anne Waiguru was appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning in 2013 by president Uhuru Kenyatta, she didn't expect it.
The current Kirinyaga governor narrated in an interview on Citizen TV that she had not applied for the position she was given by the president.
She admitted that she had only applied to be the permanent secretary in the position but was instead made CS by the Jubilee Government.
"I was very shocked, then overwhelmed of course. Very many things go through your mind," she said of her reaction to the offer.
"First of all will you pass the interview, because when you are being considered for a job it does not necessarily mean you will get it," she narrated.
She was introduced by president Uhuru Kenyatta and kept wondering what she would say when she was nominated as a CS.
"The only thing I kept wondering was what I would say when I was asked to say something other than my name," she revealed.
County governments were new at that time and Waiguru notes that it was challenging for her in the new docket that came with devolution.
"For me, it was a baptism by fire. There was no time to start thinking," she disclosed. Waiguru also explained her greatest headache while working in the devolution docket.
She said the protracted public health workers strike was her most challenging moment at the ministry where, she says, her attempts at dialogue were futile.
During the candid interview, Waiguru regretted the impasse that cost several lives. She was, however, to excel in her ministry and is credited for leading the Huduma Centre project that decentralized government services.
In 2011 she was also nominated in the Top 40 under 40 women in the country which made her the only nominee from the Public Service.
Waiguru also went through a tumultuous time when she required by the Director of Public Prosecution to record statements on the disappearance of Sh791 million from the National Youth Service (NYS) in 2015.
She was later cleared of the allegations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission allowing her to vie and win the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat on a Jubilee ticket.
