Meet Ann Kananu Mwenda; from a security supervisor to Nairobi Governor

The swearing in ceremony of Kananu is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at around 10am at the Kenyatta International Conventional Centre (KICC).

She had been holding the position in acting capacity after Sonko filed a series of cases in court in bid to block her ascension to Governor's position.

Ms. Mwenda was thrust into public limelight after Mike Sonko nominated her to be his deputy governor on January 6, 2020.

Prior to her nomination as deputy governor, Ms. Mwenda maintained a low-key profile. At the time, she was the Nairobi County Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Coordination, a position she had held for the last two years.

She was married to the late Philip Njiru Muthathai who died in January 2019 following a road accident.

Before she was appointed to be in-charge of the county’s Disaster Management and Coordination docket, she served as a security supervisor in charge of quality control and training at the Kenya Airports Authority for 13 years.

Prior to that, she worked as a personal assistant at H. Mogambi & Co Advocates as well as Mokir Enterprises, which was a Safaricom Consultancy firm responsible for handling customer services.

Ms. Mwenda also previously served as a switchboard operator at the Kenya College of Communications Technology.

In 2018, during vetting for the County Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Coordination position, Ms. Mwenda disclosed that she holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminology and Security Management from Dedan Kimathi University obtained in 2016.

She further told the vetting committee that she has a Diploma in Criminology and Security Management from St. Paul’s University undertaken in 2013.

According to her vetting report seen by Citizen Digital, she also undertook two certificate courses in Human Resource Management and Public Relations at University of Nairobi between 2011-2012.

She is also trained in disaster management and security as well as active shooting and hostage training.

Ms. Mwenda cleared her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education at Our Lady of Mercy High School in 1999.

Her nomination to the deputy governor position initially hit a hurdle after the High Court barred her vetting by the County Assembly pending the hearing and determination of the petition filed by Peter Odhiambo Agoro.

In the petition, Agoro argued that Sonko had violated court orders by making the Anne Kananu Mwenda is the new deputy governor for Nairobi County, taking over a position that had remained vacant for three years.

She becomes the fourth woman Governor in the country since the inception of devolved governments. The others are Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and the late Joyce Laboso (Bomet)