Shy and timid. These two words loudly greeted and nearly scuttled Phyllis Kandie’s entry into the Cabinet. And a member of Parliament even invented a moniker — “shyometer”— on the floor of the august House as members heatedly debated her suitability […]

There is something steely about Naomi Namsi Shaban’s demeanour. It is as if underneath her trademark colourful head wraps lies an impenetrable steel helmet made to deflect missiles directed at her in her decades long career in politics. This was not just a character attributed to her, but to the […]

It was in 2002, at the tail end of President Moi’s regime, that Mohammed Yusuf Haji became a Cabinet minister. Until then he was a career civil servant who had worked in the provincial administration for three decades. As he was considering a much-deserved retirement, Moi plunged him into politics […]

After a bright teaching career, Eliud Ngala Mwendwa was appointed to Kenyatta’s first Cabinet, served in several ministries and was the architect of some landmark achievements. As Minister for Labour, he was instrumental in the conception of the […]