Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has been installed as the patron of a women’s group dubbed Daughters of the Mountain.
The colorful ceremony was held Thursday night at her home in Kagio village.
There were pomp and dance as Ms Waiguru, donned in traditional regalia and a beaded necklace was given a flywhisk as a sign of her leadership position in the group which comprises of young professional women from across Mt Kenya region.
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Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru (centre) when she was crowned the patron of Daughters of the Mountain group on December 10, 2020.
Led by Ms Lydia Maathia, the group described the governor as a heroine whom they would like to be associated with.
It was formed to encourage and mentor women professionals to take up various political leadership positions in the country.
“Our formation was inspired by the fact that the governor had endured many fights and beaten all odds to become the first (woman) governor in the mountain region,” she said.
During the ceremony, the group vowed to support Ms Waiguru’s political ambitions to ascend to the country’s top leadership.
It stressed that Ms Waiguru has what it takes to get one of the top seats once the Building Bridges Initiative is endorsed in a referendum.
“We are fully behind the governor. We want her to be at the decision-making table in the national leadership to protect the rights of women,” added Ms Maathia.
The group urged Ms Waiguru to be the voice of women in national politics, adding that women have always been given a raw deal when political positions are being shared out, yet they are highly intelligent and educated.
Nominated MCA Lucy Njeri said women have the required numbers and they should back one of their own instead of fighting each other.
“The problem is that the enemies of women are women themselves.Let us support one another to empower women,” she appealed.
Another member of the group, Anne Waruguru, said they are also counseling girls from the region to take education seriously and uphold their culture in order to live better lives and be responsible.
In response, Ms Waiguru said she felt honored to be crowned the patron of the group and promised to steer it to great success.
“I will work with the group for the betterment of all women.
Women face a lot of challenges in life and I swore to myself that I will not fight a woman
who will be pursuing any political interest or working hard to excel in life,” she said.
She told off Deputy President William Ruto’s allies who are opposed to the BBI.
She asked residents of Mt Kenya to ignore the DP’s allies and vote in favor of BBI when the referendum is held.
She pleaded with the residents to support BBI as it will ensure the region takes up one of the top national seats.
“The BBI is good for us as our people will be represented in the national government,” she added.
Further, Ms Waiguru noted that BBI provides for gender equality and minimum guaranteed returns for coffee and tea farmers.
She also said BBI will bring peace in the country as power will be shared among all regions.
“There will be no more post-election violence and there is a need for everyone to support the document,” said the Kirinyaga governor.
