Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika is now turning out to be the enigma of Nakuru County Politics.
Her political journey can be traced fully from the time she clinched the Nakuru County Assembly seat in 2013.
Political pundits argue that Kihika is now rated as the enigma of Nakuru County politics.
Susan Kihika’s political journey in Kenya is defined by a series of historic milestones. As the third Governor of Nakuru County and one of Kenya’s most prominent female politicians, her career trajectory includes these pivotal stages:
2012–2013: Return to Kenya and Initial Run: After spending two decades in the United States, where she worked as a prosecutor and founded her own law firm in Dallas, she returned to Kenya in 2012.
She made her political debut by contesting the Bahati Constituency parliamentary seat in 2013 but lost during the party primaries.
2013–2017: Nakuru County Assembly Speaker: Bouncing back from her initial defeat, she successfully ran for the Speaker of the Nakuru County Assembly.
Winning against a field of seven male competitors, she became Nakuru’s first female Speaker and served as Vice-Chair of the County Assemblies Forum.
2017–2022: Senator for Nakuru County: She made history again in 2017 by winning the Nakuru County senatorial seat on a Jubilee Party ticket. During her tenure, she served as the Senate Majority Whip before being ousted in 2020 amid party divisions.
2022–Present: Governor of Nakuru County: In the 2022 general elections, she ran on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket and defeated the incumbent Lee Kinyanjui to become Nakuru’s first female Governor.
She is closely aligned with President William Ruto and has focused her tenure on healthcare, infrastructure, and women’s empowerment.
Kihika has declared that she will be defending her seat come 2027.