The 2022 Deputy Presidential Debate is set to be held on Tuesday, July 19, at the Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus.
The debate has been split into two, the first group will have Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah’s running mate Justina Wamae and Ruth Mucheru Mutua who is the running mate to David Mwaure Waihiga of the Agano Party.
The second tier will comprise Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential running mates Rigathi Gachagua and Raila Odinga’s 2022 presidential running mate Martha Karua.
While so much focus has been on William Ruto’s 2022 presidential running mate Rigathi Gachagua and Raila Odinga’s presidential running mate Martha Karua as the most visible presidential running-mates, there are two others in the August 2022 race.
Kivumbi.co.ke has however looked at the Curriculum Vitae of the four presidential running mates ahead of their debate.
- Ruth Mucheru Mutua
Ruth Mucheru Mutua is the running mate to David Mwaure Waihiga of the Agano Party. She is a communication expert who is passionate about fighting corruption.
Prior to joining politics, Mucheru served as a supplier officer at Ruchaga Investment, Customer care representative at Sadolin Paints.
Mucheru further worked at Telkom (Orange). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree, in Communication and Sociology from the University of Nairobi.
- Justina Wambui
Justina Wambui Wamae is a 35-year-old business lady turned politician who is the running mate of George Wajackoyah of the Roots Party.
She was selected as the running mate after applying for the position using the CV she used in applying for the Principal Secretary Position after the elections in 2017.
Wamae, the mother of three is married to Alex Kanyi whom she met in 2017 during the campaigns.
In 2012 she graduated with a Diploma in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supplies UK.
In 2014 she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Purchasing and Logistics from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
Justina unsuccessfully contested for the Mavoko parliamentary seat on an independent ticket.
In 2017, Justina served as the chair of the ‘Warembo na Uhuru’ in the larger Machakos County after failing to clinch the Jubilee nominations.
She is currently a senior manager in a construction company based in Utawala.
- Martha Karua
Raila Odinga’s 2022 presidential running mate Martha Karua is a Kenyan who was a long-standing Member of Parliament for Gichugu Constituency and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
She was Minister for Justice until resigning from that position in April 2009.
Karua ran for the presidency in 2013 under the Narc-Kenya ticket making her the third woman to run for the highest office, after Charity Ngilu and Wangari Maathai in the 1997 elections. She emerged sixth in the race.
Between 1980 and 1981 she was enrolled at the Kenya School of Law for the statutory postgraduate law course.
Martha Karua would make a come-back in Kenya’s political scene in the 2017 General Election seeking a Gubernatorial Seat in Kirinyaga County.
On 20 September 2021, Senior Counsel Martha Karua was unanimously elected as the Interim Mount Kenya Unity Forum Spokesperson by a section of leaders from Central Kenya.
Karua is the first woman lawyer to be popularly elected to Parliament.
- Rigathi Gachagua
Rigathi Gachagua was born in 1965 in Hiriga village of Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County, being the eighth born child to Nashashon Gachagua Reriani and Martha Kirigo.
Rigathi underwent Paramilitary training at Administration Police Institute in 1990. He also studied Advanced Public Administration Course at the Kenya School of Government between 1999 and 2000.
After his graduation, Gachagua joined Administration Police Institute in 1990. Gachagua was posted at the Office of the then president Daniel Arap Moi, as a District Officer Cadet between 1991 and 1992.
Gachagua then went on to serve as a District Officer in Kakamega, Ng’arua, and Laikipia districts.
Between 1999 and 2000, he joined the Kenya School of Government where he graduated with a Diploma in Advanced Public Administration.
Between 2001 and 2006, Gachagua then worked as the Personal Assistant to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Gachagua was elected as a Kenyan member of parliament for the Mathira constituency in 2017 on a Jubilee ticket.
