From university don to the powerful Interior Ministry - Meet Prof. Kithure Kindiki

The soft-spoken academic-cum-politician, Professor Abraham Kithure Kindiki featured prominently in President William Ruto’s campaign throughout the last four years.

At one-point Kindiki was regarded as the runaway front-runner for running mate, but last-minute intrigues saw Rigathi Gachagua picked ahead of him.

Prof. Kithure Kindiki who hails from Irunduni village, in Tharaka Constituency, started off in the world of academia. He acquired his Bachelor of Laws degree from Moi University, and later earned a master's degree in International Human Rights Law and Democracy and a PhD in International Law, both from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Between 2000 and 2003, he was a lecturer of law at Moi University, before serving the University of Nairobi in the same capacity between 2003 and 2005. In 2005, he would be promoted to the head of the department of public law and later become the associate dean of the school at the same university.

The fifth born in a family of nine would in 2008 officially join the government, as secretary of cohesion in the Justice Ministry under the NARC government, a post he only held for 100 days before resigning to resume his teaching career.

Kindiki's political star started rising after he took up the task of defending William Ruto at the Hague in the crimes against humanity case in 2012. The high-profile case opened the first chapters of the relationship between the DP, his now long-time ally.

Riding on the political visibility occasioned by the ICC, Kindiki plunged into elective politics on a  Jubilee Alliance ticket, an alliance that brought together The National Alliance (TNA) Party and United Republican Party (URP) among other parties.

He was part of the team that drafted the party's constitution and manifesto in the run-up to the 2013 election win. He vied for and was elected as the first senator for Tharaka Nithi County, a seat he went on to hold for two consecutive terms.

In the Senate, Kindiki was appointed the Senate Majority leader between 2013 and 2017 taking him closer to the country's centre of power. In his second term, he also served as the deputy senate speaker, until he was de-whipped in 2020.

Alumni of Irunduni Primary School and Lenana High School, Kithure Kindiki's ride to Kenya Kwanza's top leadership ranks appear to have been informed by a careful mix of calculation and luck. At the request of Deputy President William Ruto, Prof. Kindiki shelved his bid for the Tharaka Nithi gubernatorial seat in favour of the incumbent, Muthomi Njuki.

The 49-year-old, father of three, is considered the brain behind the drafting of Kenya Kwanza's coalition power-sharing agreement deal. Kindiki brings vast experience in International Law and Research having worked with organizations like the United Nations and the International Commission of Jurists, Kenya Section.