\n Kenyan President William Ruto has 14 days to nominate a new deputy after the historic impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua.\n<\/p>\n
\n Here are some of the names being floated by Kenyan media:\n<\/p>\n
\n - Kithure Kindiki -\n<\/p>\n
\n Kindiki, 52, is an academic turned political heavyweight who was thrust into the limelight when he defended Ruto at the International Criminal Court.\n<\/p>\n
\n Though praised by supporters for having a common touch, the law professor came under fire over alleged police brutality during the sometimes deadly anti-government protests that rocked Kenya earlier this year.\n<\/p>\n
\n He has also faced scrutiny over his $5.4 million wealth, which he insists comes largely from his law firm and other small businesses.\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2011, Ruto -- then an opposition MP -- chose Kindiki to join his legal team to fight charges of crimes against humanity at the ICC over 2007-08 post-election tribal violence that killed more than 1,100 people.\n<\/p>\n
\n The cases against both Ruto and former president Uhuru Kenyatta eventually collapsed, which was blamed by the prosecution on witness intimidation.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kindiki, who was born into humble beginnings in the vote-rich Mount Kenya region, taught law at university before joining the government in 2008 as secretary of national cohesion in the election violence aftermath.\n<\/p>\n
\n But he only served in the post for 100 days and he was soon back in the classroom, before his ICC role.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kindiki was elected a senator in 2013 and again in 2017.\n<\/p>\n
\n He became a casualty of the Kenyatta-Ruto fallout in the runup to the 2022 election, removed as deputy Senate speaker in a purge of Ruto allies.\n<\/p>\n
\n Many had expected Ruto to pick Kindiki as his running mate in 2022, but Gachagua came out on top.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ruto later rewarded Kindiki with the plum role of interior minister.\n<\/p>\n
\n He became the target of public anger when he defended police actions during the youth-led demonstrations which saw at least 60 people killed.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ruto sacked Kindiki in July along with almost all government ministers but he was swiftly reappointed to a revamped cabinet.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Anne Waiguru -\n<\/p>\n
\n Waiguru has served under three presidents and is lauded by women's rights groups as a trailblazer in a country where parliamentary gender equality still lags.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the county governor, 53, has come under repeated scrutiny for links to corruption.\n<\/p>\n
\n Waiguru began her public service career as a technical adviser for public reforms under former president Mwai Kibaki, who was in office for a decade until 2013.\n<\/p>\n
\n She then caught the eye of Kibaki's successor Kenyatta and became head of the brand-new Ministry of Devolution and Planning.\n<\/p>\n
\n She was celebrated for programmes that decentralised government services, giving access to millions of Kenyans outside Nairobi.\n<\/p>\n
\n But she was forced to quit in 2016 over a scandal that saw billions of shillings vanish from her ministry.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite never admitting wrongdoing, and instead blaming the decision on ill health -- she earned the dubious honour of becoming the first cabinet secretary under Kenyatta to resign.\n<\/p>\n
\n A year later Waiguru won the post of governor and after surviving an impeachment attempt in 2019 following yet more graft claims, she secured re-election in 2022.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Musalia Mudavadi -\n<\/p>\n
\n The 64-year-old former vice president is currently prime cabinet secretary and foreign minister.\n<\/p>\n
\n An economics graduate and former real estate consultant, he made history in 1989 as Kenya's youngest ever minister at the age of 28.\n<\/p>\n
\n He served as finance minister between 1993 and 1998 and has held various ministerial positions under three presidents.\n<\/p>\n
\n His finance ministry tenure was tainted by a scandal involving fake gold bought by the government.\n<\/p>\n
\n A member of the Luhya tribe, Kenya's second biggest, he was the only minister to survive Ruto's July cabinet purge.\n<\/p>\n
\n Often accused of being indecisive, he has spent significant years of his career serving as number two to Kenya's political kingpins.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Irungu Kang'ata -\n<\/p>\n
\n The 44-year-old lawyer has been politically active from a young age. A former student leader, Kang'ata became a local councillor at the age of 22 and later an MP.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was elected senator in 2017 and a county governor in 2022, one step shy of contesting all elective posts apart from the presidency.\n<\/p>\n
\n He once successfully represented a shopping mall security guard in a closely-followed case that led to the resignation of a deputy chief justice accused of pulling a gun on the guard when she reportedly refused to be searched.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Mwangi Kiunjuri -\n<\/p>\n
\n Kiunjuri, a 57-year-old MP in central Kenya, is known as a straight shooter with deft communication skills especially in his native Kikuyu language.\n<\/p>\n
\n A teacher by training, he was elected to parliament in 1997 aged 28, then the youngest legislator.\n<\/p>\n
\n He served as assistant minister in various ministries for a decade from 2003.\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2008, he was accused of being among politicians that sponsored the post-2007 election violence.\n<\/p>\n
\n He tasted his first political defeat in 2013 when he unsuccessfully contested a county gubernatorial seat.\n<\/p>\n
\n But he made a comeback as devolution minister in 2015, and has also served at the agriculture ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenyan President William Ruto has 14 days to nominate a new deputy after the historic impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua. Here are some of the names being floated by Kenyan media: - Kithure Kindiki - Kindiki, 52, is an academic turned political heavyweight who was thrust into the limelight when he defended Ruto at the International […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-137209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n