Mutahi Kagwe is a former cabinet secretary for Health in the Republic of Kenya. He assumed office on 28 February 2020 after the docket was handed over to him by the previous..
Mutahi Kagwe is a former cabinet secretary for Health in the Republic of Kenya. He assumed office on 28 February 2020 after the docket was handed over to him by the previous cabinet secretary for Health. He hit the airwaves at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when the first case was confirmed in Nairobi on 12 March 2020 following the outbreakin December 2019.
Notable Accomplishments:
In the year 2005, Kagwe was appointed to the cabinet as the minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) by the late former President Mwai Kibaki. In this position, he, along with the former permanent secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology, Dr. Bitange Ndemo, spearheaded the construction of The East African Marine System (TEAMS), which was the first fiber-optic project for Eastern Africa.
This saw Kenya taking up the use of fiber-optic cables, leading to a great transformation in communication because there was a reduction of call tariffs across the different telecommunication network providers and a spiral of internet speeds.
It is also worth mentioning that Vodafone and Safaricom launched Mpesa, the world's first-ever mobile money transfer system, in Kenya during his term.
Education:
Hon. Mutahi Kagwe was born in 1958 and he attended his early education at Kihate Primary School from 1965 - 1971. He later joined Kagumo High School in 1972 - 1977 to pursue his O levels and A levels.
Kagwe would later join the University of Nairobi from 1978 - 1981 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Insurance) degree.
He took further studies at the United States International University from 1988 - 1992 and graduated with an MBA.
Before Kagwe got into politics he was in private business and had an independent publishing house as well as a public relations company. Between 1987 and 1989 he was working with the Standard Media Group's advertising department where he rose to the position of commercial director of the institution.
Other Accomplishments:
Outside of politics he has held and continues to hold many positions including, chairman of several corporate boards. He is also the former Multimedia University Council Chairman. He is a professional member of the Marketing Society of Kenya, the Kenya Institute of Management, the parliamentarian network of the World Bank, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
He is also credited with having sponsored the Cyber Security and Protection Bill in the Senate of Kenya.