Is Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru Kenya’s newest Iron Lady?

The term Iron Lady has always been used to describe a strong-willed, no-nonsense woman; one who is firm, stands for what she believe in and does not bow to pressure and manipulation.

Until recently, these words best described Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, but there seems to be a new Queen in the Kenyan political coliseum – Ms Anne Waiguru.

The story of Anne Waiguru is one of resilience and steadfastness. A story of blood and bruises, tears and sweat...battles and victories.

Waiguru’s popularity rose after her appointment into the powerful Ministry of Devolution as the Cabinet Secretary and her stellar performance obviously made her a target - attracting new friends and new foes in equal measure.

What transpired or did not transpire in her two years at the ministry is not the essence of this story though – we’ll talk about that on a later day.

My story begins from August 2016 when Ms Waiguru announced her interest in the Kirinyaga Governorship seat.

For a person whose name had been on the front page of national dailies and a topic of TV and radio panel discussions for close to a year over a scandal that has since been established to be politically-instigated, it seemed like a long shot.

Almost all political pundits and newspaper columnists played down her chances of going past the nomination stage, let alone winning the governorship race.

Her chances were underplayed even further after the entry of Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua – the supposed Iron lady – into the race in November last year.

After Waiguru won the Jubilee party nominations, political pundits adjusted their predictions – abandoning their earlier prediction that the former CS would falter in the nominations and building a fresh narrative on how the people of Kirinyaga would choose Karua, a seasoned politician, over Waiguru.

To Karua, this was supposed to be an easy race; a go-in-get-it-get-out sort of situation.

She seemingly underestimated the power of a vibrant technocrat who had been through hell and high waters and therefore had everything to prove.

And so, Waiguru put in twice as much work as Karua; she traversed every ward and village in Kirinyaga in hunt for votes, shared her vision with the people.

When the time for elections came, Waiguru beat Karua by over 40,000 votes.

In ancient history of empires and kingdoms, you had to defeat a sitting King to be the new King – or Queen in this case.

Having defeated the supposed Iron Lady Martha Karua, what does this therefore make Anne Waiguru…the newest Iron Lady? Definitely!

But looking at the broader picture, where does this position Governor Waiguru in Kenya’s politics?

Already speculations are rife over her close working relations with Deputy President William Ruto with many seeing her as the prospective running mate for Ruto who seeks to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022 elections.

Also, with the departure of President Kenyatta at the end of his current term, what becomes of Central Kenya politics? Who has the ability to whip votes in the 'Agikuyu nation'?

Is Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru Central Kenya's next kingpin and Kenya's next political heavyweight?

Only time will tell!