Prof. Kithure Kindiki has been inaugurated as Kenya’s 3rd Deputy President under the 2010 Constitution. Having served as the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration barely in two and a half years, he now takes over from the embroiled Gachagua, who stands impeached.
Below is Prof. Abraham Kithure Kindiki’s, now officially the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya’s Profile
Born in 1972, Kithure was 52 at the time of his inauguration as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya. He’s an alumni of Lenana High School, where he studied before joining Moi University for the Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB) and subsequently a Diploma in Legal Studies from the Kenya School of Law.
He also holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law & Democracy and a PhD in International Law, both from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Prof. Kithure was a lecturer at the Moi University before joining the University of Nairobi as a senior lecturer and the Head of the Department of Public Law.
While at the University of Nairobi, Kithure Kindiki rose to the position of an Associate Dean at the School of Law.
Prior to the Amalgamation of the 2010 Constitution and the subsequent joining of politics in 2013, Kindiki served as the Secretry of National Cohesion under the late President, Mwai Kibaki.
He is the immediate former Senator of Tharaka-Nithi County, beginning in 2013, and his Senate reelection in 2017. He served as the Senate Majority Leader in his tenure from 2013 to 2017, before the seismic shake, leading to the waned relationship between the former President, Uhuru Kenyatta, and then the Deputy President, William Ruto.
Kithure Kindiki was in Ruto’s political bandwagon and served as the Deputy Speaker of the Senate from August 2017 to 2020. President Ruto’s choice of Rigathi Gachagua for the same role further eclipsed his battle to campaign for William Ruto, which nearly earned him the position of Deputy Party leader and later Deputy President.
Kithure Kindiki was, however, awarded the position of Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration in October 2022, following Ruto’s win again over the then Uhuru’s favorite, the former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
He served the position until July 11th, 2024, when the President dissolved the Cabinet, sending 21 CSs home, following the seismic Gen Z-led demonstration, which rocked the entire country and almost dethroned William Ruto. The brutal police intervention led to the death of over 60 protesters and subsequent forced disappearances, which has since earned him a relic of human rights violation under his leadership
Fortunately, he was reappointed in the same position after the shakeup, remained to be among the president’s favorites, and was reappointed to lead the same docket amid the seething anger among the general public over the mishandling of the demonstration.
Hereafter, Prof. Kithure Kindiki will serve as the Deputy President of the President of the Republic of Kenya for the remaining 2 and a half years.
However, Gachagua’s fate is now sealed after the court lifted the conservatory order, barring the implementation of the parliament resolution and the subsequent inauguration of Kithure Kindiki yesterday.
This after a back-to-back court battle that lasted almost two weeks proved futile, throwing Gachagua’s political dream to the smithereens. The gazettement of Kithure’s inauguration ceremony and the subsequent declaration of November 1st 2024 as a public holiday ensued immediately to bock the chances of having the deposed DP rush to the appellate court.
The latter will now have to wait for another 10 years as outlined in the constitution before considering any elective post or holding any public office.
