Mwangi Festus Kiunjuri is a Kenyan politician who has served in various capacities in the government.
Kiunjuri is a teacher by profession having taught for only one year before venturing into politics in 1997.
He was the Member of Parliament for Laikipia East Constituency between 1997 and 2013.
Kiunjuri unsuccessfully vied for the gubernatorial post of Laikipia under the new constitution in 2013. He lost the election to Joshua Irungu who was a newcomer in politics.
He was then appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015 as the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning ministry. He was taking over from Anne Waiguru who had resigned due to corruption allegations.
Between 2003 and 2013, Kiunjuri served as an assistant minister under President Mwai Kibaki’s government. His stint was at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation as well as the Ministry of Energy.
His latest position in the government was at the ministry of Agriculture where he was the CS until January 2020.
Before losing his CS job, the country had been infested with Tsetse flies which had become a bigger challenge to this ministry.
The former CS was opposed to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) up until late 2020 when he said his party – The Service Party – would not be part of those leading the No campaign. His decision to support the BBI was backed by his consideration for what residents of Mt. Kenya would gain.
According to Kiunjuri, if the BBI is passed, it would bring changes to ordinary citizens. One of his achievements as Agriculture CS was to create an international marketing strategy for the Kenyan tea farmers which is still being used by current Agriculture CS Peter Munya. He accused the Kenya Tea Development Authority of interfering with prices which eventually affect farmers.