President William Ruto with former Gender CS Aisha Jumwa in past photo.President William Ruto has appointed former Gender CS Aisha Jumwa to be the non-executive chairperson of the Kenya Roads Board.
In a Gazette notice dated January 17, Ruto said she will serve in the position for a period of three years with effect from the appointment date.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 7 (1) (a) of the Kenya Roads Board Act, as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Aisha Jumwa Katana to be the non-executive Chairperson of the Kenya Roads Board, for a period of three (3) years, with effect from the January 17, 2025,” the notice read.
The President revoked the appointment of Ahmed Kolosh Mohamed.
The former Malindi MP was in Ruto's initial 22-member Cabinet where she appointed to the Gender docket.
However, Jumwa was among 11 CSs who never made it back after the President reconstituted the Cabinet at the height of the Gen Z anti-government protests in July, 2024.
On July 26, 2024, just two weeks after he disbanded his Cabinet, Ruto promised to give former Gender and Culture Cabinet Secretary a plum job.
“I want to tell you that I will not leave my sister Aisha Jumwa out of my government. She is my sister, she will walk with me, I will not leave her. She will come back and walk with me alongside Blue Economy and Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho and his Investment and Trade counterpart Salim Mvurya,” Ruto told a crowd in Watamu.
Joho had just been nominated at that time and was awaiting parliamentary vetting and approval.
Jumwa thanked the President for the pledge.
“I respect the President’s position. He sees far more than what I can see. By picking Joho and Mvurya, I'm ok,” she said.
Before joining politics, Jumwa worked in a construction company in Kilifi.
She was a KANU party youth winger and went on to be elected as Takaunga ward councillor from 1997-2007.
Jumwa also served as the chairperson of Kilifi Town Council.
Upon the promulgation of the 2010 constitution, she became the first Kilifi Woman Representative in 2013, which she won on an ODM party ticket.
She served as a member of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources from 2013 to 2017.
Jumwa was in 2017 elected MP for Malindi constituency.
She went on to serve as a commissioner in the Parliamentary Service Commission.
In 2022, Jumwa vied for the Kilifi gubernatorial seat but lost to Gideon Mung'aro.
