President William Ruto has acknowledged that Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru's decision to depart from then-President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee party in favour of his own came as a surprise to him.
Speaking during the Women Governors' Caucus G7 Strategy Summit held in Nairobi on Thursday, the Head of State revealed that it took a lot of courage for the Governor to make the move given the political climate.
At the time, Uhuru who was the president, and Ruto, his deputy, had fallen out with the former supporting opposition leader Raila Odinga for the top seat.
"Women have also changed my perspective. Let me give you an example. Anne Waiguru, when we had a time in our politics in the side of the camp we were and it was time to make a very difficult decision whether to go or remain (in the camps)," stated Ruto.
"Among the people who made decisions that confirmed to me that women are brave, is the decision Waiguru made to join our team. When she joined our team, I could not believe it. Everybody believed she could be on the other side. It took a lot of courage.
Waiguru, who was one of the high-ranking leaders in Jubilee, controversially decamped to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party in 2021.
Rumours had swirled before her decamping that chances of her retaining her gubernatorial seat were slim.
When she jumped ship, she destabilised the arrangement where it had been widely assumed that Purity Ngirici, who was the Woman Representative, would receive the UDA gubernatorial endorsement.
Ngirici, however, lost the UDA nomination and ditched the party altogether preferring to run as an independent candidate.
She lost the election to Waiguru with a difference of 8,000 votes. Waiguru got 113,088 votes against Ngirici's 105,677 votes.
In her acceptance speech, Waiguru termed her win as a miracle, admitting that the days leading to the announcement were not easy.
"It is just a miracle that I made it and I want to first start by thanking God because if it was not for his strength, ability, wisdom, favour and grace upon me, I would not have been able to be here," she celebrated.
Waiguru has continued to work with Ruto in her capacity as the Council of Governors Chairperson.
