Professionalism, hard work pay off for Nzioka Waita

The fastest rising man in Government circles in the last two years is perhaps Nzioka Waita.

When President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday nominated Waita, 42, as Chief of Staff and Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit, he was rewarding hard work, discipline and professionalism.

It was a resounding vote of confidence in a man who only two years ago featured at the bottom of Safaricom’s list of “directors and senior leaders.” He was the director of corporate affairs.

Ever since the UK-trained lawyer got into public service on April 2015, his star has been shining. President Kenyatta first picked him as the head of Presidential Delivery Unit. Two years into his appointment he rose to become the deputy to Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.

And on Friday, the little-known man from the private sector, was handed the full mandate to mediate between the staff at State House and the President. Waita will work behind the scenes to mediate disputes, before they are brought to the President.

He will coordinate the President’s official meetings, ensure smooth functioning of the President’s office, manage, reporting, performance and delivery by the Cabinet and key Parastatals of the Big Four Agenda.

Although he is said to be easily accessible, he does not tolerate nonsense. He is ruthless when it comes to dealing with performance-related issues.

It is said that he personally led performance contract negotiations with every Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary.

Waita is said to have deep ties with key individuals in the national administration and security dockets, channels he has used to keep tabs on critical projects of interest to the President.