Kirubi’s Daughter Lands Government Appointment

Maryanne Kirubi, the daughter of the late business mogul Chris Kirubi, has been appointed by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe as a member of the board of the National Cancer Institute.

The appointment was confirmed in a Kenya Gazette Notice dated Friday, July 29. It took effect on July 28, 2022.

Kirubi’s appointment is for a period of three years. It is among several appointments to state agencies made by President Uhuru Kenyatta and various Cabinet Secretaries in the final weeks of his tenure.

Maryanne Kirubi is the heir to the multi-billion shilling Kirubi fortune spanning sectors including real estate, media, financial services and agriculture. The senior Kirubi died in June 2021 at the age of 80. He had been fighting Cancer since 2016.

“He brutally fought this disease called Cancer which was difficult. We were emotionally exhausted, it was unthinkable what he was going through. He fought very very hard,” Maryanne stated at her father’s funeral while recounting his battle with Cancer.

The National Cancer Institute is a statutory body established under the Kenya Cancer Prevention and Control Act (No. 15 of 2012). Among other responsibilities, the body is tasked with securing the establishment of hospitals, vocational treatment and care centres and other institutions for the welfare and treatment of persons with Cancer in all counties.

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Part of its mandate is also to encourage and secure provision of diagnostic, treatment, rehabilitation and other medical care to persons with Cancer in those institutions. The body is also mandated to advise the Cabinet Secretary on matters relating to the treatment and care of persons with cancer and to advise on the relative priorities to be given to the implementation of specific measures.

Maryanne Kirubi has been steering the Kirubi estate since her father’s death. She promised at his funeral to uphold his legacy while highlighting the challenge of filling his shoes.

“Daddy, I am still your little girl, and as little girls do, I will put on your shoes, those shoes that you have left behind. However, my tiny little fight will be swimming helplessly in your shoes, as I reach out for your hands to hold me steady,” she told mourners.

“So before God, and all these witnesses, I ask you to bless me and allow me to wear my own shoes. The shoes that will enable me to run my own race,” Kirubi continued.

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