Sylvia Museiya, 34

Principal Secretary

State Department for Wildlife

For Sylvia, it was not until she was sworn in as Principal Secretary for Wildlife that it sank in that she was part of the Cabinet.

Aside from dealing with nay-sayers who hinted the list in the public domain was not final, she was sleep-deprived thanks to the anxiety that comes with a nomination.

“It comes alive to you on the day of the swearing-in that you are actually a PS,” she told a local TV station in an interview.

She is the youngest PS in the Kenya Kwanza administration and says she prepared thoroughly for the role, having beaten 9,000 other applicants.

"Coming from a small hunter-gatherer indigenous community of Mukogodo Forest in Laikipia County, she is passionate about keeping indigenous languages alive."

Before becoming PS, she served as chairperson of the Education Committee at the Nairobi City County Assembly, sponsoring Bills that are now law, including the Early Childhood Development and Education Bill, Civic Education Bill and Creative Arts Bill.

Coming from a small hunter-gatherer indigenous community of Mukogodo Forest in Laikipia County, she is passionate about keeping indigenous languages alive.

In 2019, she sparked public debate when she proposed that children in the city’s Early Childhood Development Education centres should have lessons on language and culture.

A year later, she was in the limelight again. This time for standing firm against the impeachment of Mike Sonko, saying it wasn’t on merit.

She holds a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Education from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Human Rights and International Advocacy from Columbia University New York School of Law.

As the news came in that she was among the 51 names shortlisted in President William Ruto’s government, she had also been nominated as a county executive committee member in the Laikipia County government.

Lynet Igadwah