Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has explained his special relationship with the pioneer female Regional Commissioner Esther Wamuyu Maina.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 13, Matiang'i recalled his deep ties to Maina, who currently acts as the President's representative to the area that was formerly known as Central Province.
Explaining the reason behind picking her to lead the region, the CS noted that he had monitored her stellar performances in the various departments before deciding to pick her as one of the first female Regional Commissioner under the new promulgated 2010 constitution.
The super CS further reminisced how he first met Maina when he was still the Education Cabinet Secretary.
"She (Maina) is one of our best Regional Commissioners and when I came to the Ministry of Interior, she was serving as the County Commissioner for Machakos. In fact, I met her before joining the Ministry of Interior (during my tenure as Education CS), we were opening containers with Esther at 3 am in Machakos. I could see how she was working in the field," Matiang'i disclosed.
The CS added that their cordial work relationship made him lose his cool after someone questioned him why she was picked for that top Regional Commissioner's job.
"Some other guy was asking me why I deployed a woman to serve as Central Kenya Regional Commissioner. I told him: ‘Because you are a fool, you’ll never understand’. Yeah!” Matiang’i stated.
He further defended her appointment stating that "the beauty about national government administration is that you can’t survive if you are not capable because you prove yourself through the work that you do."
Maina was deployed as the Regional Commissioner for Central Kenya on January 12, 2022. This was after a reshuffle was done and she replaced Wilfred Agage Nyangwanga.
Before she was posted in Central, Maina served in a similar role in Western Kenya since August 2020. Prior to that, she had served as the County Commissioner for Embu, Kiambu, and Machakos counties.
Maina's promotion saw her gain the status of being the first female Regional Commissioner.
The RC plays many of the roles played by a Provincial Commissioner in the old constitution. However, the positions are not exactly the same as the new constitution scrapped the provincial administration and devolved some of the central government powers to the devolved units which are now headed by governors.
Under the old constitution, Philomena Koech was the first female Provincial Commissioner after then-President Daniel Arap Moi appointed her to head Eastern Province in 1999.
Claire Omollo, also entered the history books by becoming the second female Provincial Commissioner who was appointed by President Mwai Kibaki to head Eastern Province. Her appointment was approved in 2009.
They were all answerable to Permanent Secretary for Interior a position which was renamed to Principal Secretary and is now headed by Karanja Kibicho.
