Angellah Kairuki Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Honourable
Angellah Kairuki
Honorific-Suffix:MP
Office:Minister of Natural Resources & Tourism
Term Start:1 September 2023
President:Samia Suluhu
Predecessor:Mohamed Mchengerwa
Office1:Minister of State in the President's Office
Term Start1:2 October 2022
Term End1:31 August 2023
President1:Samia Suluhu
Predecessor1:Innocent Bashungwa
Successor1:Mohamed Mchengerwa
Term Start2:9 January 2019
Term End2:16 June 2020
President2:John Magufuli
Successor2:Kitila Mkumbo
Term Start3:12 December 2015
Term End3:7 October 2017
President3:John Magufuli
Alongside3:George Simbachawene
Successor3:Selemani Jafo
Office4:Minister of Mining
Term Start4:9 October 2017
Term End4:9 January 2019
President4:John Magufuli
Predecessor4:Sospeter Muhongo
Successor4:Doto Biteko
Office5:Member of Parliament
Term Start5:November 2010
Constituency5:Appointed (Special Seat)
Birth Date:10 September 1976
Nationality:Tanzanian
Party:CCM
Spouse:Mbelwa Kairuki
Children:3
Profession:Lawyer

Angellah Jasmine Mbelwa Kairuki (born 10 September 1976) is a Tanzanian CCM politician and cabinet Minister. On 1 September 2023, she began her post as the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism of Tanzania.[1]

In her last cabinet appointment she was the Minister of State in the President's Office. She previously served as Minister of Mining and the Deputy Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlement as well as Constitutional and Legal Affairs. Prior to joining politics, she worked as a lawyer in both public and private sectors.[2]

Background

Kairuki was born on September 10, 1976. She completed her schooling from the Zanaki Girls Secondary School in 1997. She received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Hull in England in 2001. She went to finish a post-graduate diploma in Law from the Staffordshire University in collaboration with Central Law Training in 2002. She worked in the Attorney General's chambers as a legal secretary and lawyer between 2004 and 2008. Kairuki then moved to the private sector as Head of Department of the Ethics, Compliance and Governance at VODACOM Group PTY.[3]

Political career

Kairuki first took on a political role in 2007 when she became a member of the General Council of the women's wing of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and still continues in this role. Since 2010, she is a member of the party's National Executive Council.[3]

In 2010, Kairuki became a Member of Parliament for CCM when she was appointed to a special seat reserved for women. She was the vice chairperson of the parliamentary Constitution, Legal affairs and Governance Committee between 2010 and 2012. Her first ministerial role was as a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Justice and Constitution Affairs, which she served in between 2012 and 2015. In 2015, she was named the Deputy Minister of Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development.[3] After the 2015 elections, the new President John Magufuli inducted Kairuki into the Cabinet as one of two Ministers in the President's Office responsible for Public Service Management and Good Governance.[4]

In 2011, she was selected to represent Tanzania in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and became a member of IPU's Human Rights Committee.[5] She was cited as one of '20 Young Power African Women' in 2013 by Forbes magazine.[6]

In 2015 she signed an open letter organized by the ONE Campaign, along with a number of prominent women. The letter was addressed to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and the Chairperson of the African Union Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women, to set the priorities in development funding before a main UN summit in September 2015 that will establish new development goals for the generation.[7]

On October 2, 2022, she was appointed as a minister in President's Office Region Administration and Local Government (PoRALG).

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Admin . 2023-09-01 . Tanzania Cabinet Reshuffle: President Samia Announces Key Appointments and Changes . 2023-09-11 . TanzaniaInvest . en-US.
  2. Web site: 7 October 2017 . President Magufuli splits energy and mining ministry in cabinet shake-up . 7 October 2017 . Reuters . The EastAfrican Quoting Reuters.
  3. Web site: Profile: Hon. Angellah Jasmine Mbelwa Kairuki. October 25, 2016. Parliament of Tanzania.
  4. News: New lean Union cabinet unveiled. December 11, 2015. October 25, 2016. Rose Athumani. Daily News. https://web.archive.org/web/20161018232644/http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/home-news/44970-new-lean-union-cabinet-unveiled. October 18, 2016. dead.
  5. Web site: Case Studies: Angellah Kairuki. African Leadership Institute. October 25, 2016.
  6. News: The 20 Young Power Women In Africa 2013. Nsehe. Mfonobong. December 4, 2013. October 25, 2016. February 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202130228/http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/12/04/the-20-young-power-women-in-africa-2013/#7653da987231. dead.
  7. Web site: Tracy McVeigh . Poverty is sexist: leading women sign up for global equality | Life and style . The Guardian . 2015-05-08.