She might not be known to many but Zeinab Abdallah Hussein, the principal secretary in the State Department for Correctional Services, is the most powerful woman working behind Interior CS Fred Matiang'i.
In her role, she is the one calling shots in all prison departments in the country.
She is well known for transferring all prison bosses on August 11, after they were accused of including the names of hardcore criminals in the presidential pardon list.
Zeinab earned the praise of Kenyans in october 2018 when she cancelled tenders for the supply of foodstuff in prison worth Ksh 6 billion that were allegedly irregularly awarded.
She joined the Ministry of Interior on July 13, 2018, when President Uhuru Kenyatta reshuffled his government. She was transferred from the State Department for Post-training and Skills Development in the Ministry of Education, where she worked in the same capacity.
Zeinab has also worked in the State Department for Irrigation in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the State Department for Gender Affairs in the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs as the PS.
Before she joined the government, Zeinab worked at East Africa and Africa Delivery Hub, McKinsey and Company where she was head of professional development and human resources.
Earlier, Zeinab had served at Accelerate Africa, a management consulting firm that focuses exclusively on serving the growth, expansion and management needs of Africa’s companies.
She also worked as head of recruitment and administration as well as a consultant at McKinsey and Company and as a regional sales and marketing manager in charge of West Africa, for Shell Company.
The PS is a graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government where she majored in Business and Economics.
She pursued her MBA, in Business, International Business Management at the University of Nairobi.
