Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru was introduced to the public by President Uhuru Kenyatta in April 2013 as the Devolution Cabinet Secretary.
At the time, little was known about her. However, seven years down the line, the governor has made headlines and on numerous occassions become the key topic of discussion among Kenyans.
Below are three dramatic instances that put Waiguru in the limelight;
NYS Scandal
In September 2015. Waiguru, who was the Devolution CS and a notable minister in the president's first cabinet, was asked to record a statement over the disappearance of Ksh 791 million from the ministry.
Waiguru's docket had been accused of buying items and overpricing them.
The governor denied allegations levelled against her, stating that she was not involved in the purchase. In November 2015, Waiguru stepped down from her position due to pressure from the public and the opposition and asked the president to consider giving her lighter duties.
The following year, in February 2016, the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission cleared her of all her charges.
Waiguru Impeachment
On Tuesday, June 9, the Kirinyaga governor was impeached by Members of County Assembly over what they termed as gross misconduct, abuse of office and using her office to unconstitutionally confer a benefit to herself when she was allegedly irregularly paid travel allowances amounting to Sh10.6 million.
This is after 23 of the 33 MCAs in the county voted for her removal while only six abstained.
In a week's time, the governor had prepared her defense and for 10 days, there were hearings at the senate, investigating charges that had been levelled against her.
She would survive the impeachment on June 26, 2020, when the Senate Committee cleared her of all the allegations she was facing.
“The committee having investigated the matter in accordance with its mandate under Section 33(4) of the County Governments Act and Standing order 75(2) of the Senate Standing Orders reports to the Senate that it finds that the two charges against the Governor have not been substantiated,” read the report.
Home raided
On Thursday, August 20, Waiguru's houses and offices, both in Nairobi and Kirinyaga, were raided by officials from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The corruption body indicated that it was collecting evidence into her alleged abuse of office and pocketing of Ksh 23 million in form of travel allowances.
The detectives, who had search warrants, disclosed that they possessed court warrants that allowed them to cease crucial documents from her homes.
The governor would later term the raids to her house as unnecessary as she had already presented the documents sought by the investigators in the Senate impeachment hearing.
"Surely, you did not need a battery of machine-gun carrying policemen, raiding my home in darkness to get my cheque book! This could have been easily availed with a simple request," she stated.
