Michuki's daughter quits govt amid Ruto purge on Uhuru-era appointees

Wanja Michuki, the daughter of former powerful Kibaki-era minister John Michuki has resigned from the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) where she served as a board member.

Her resignation comes as President William Ruto continues with a purge of allies of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta from various parastatals.

In a letter dated March 2, 2023, and addressed to Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi, Ms Michuki said that she had chosen to resign from the board for personal reasons.

“I write to inform you that I have chosen to resign from the board of directors of AFC for personal reasons, effective immediately. It was an honour to serve on the Board of directors of the corporation. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish the ministry and the corporation all the best,” wrote Ms Michuki.

She explained her reasons on social media.

“I find that our most overlooked agencies are choice and commitment. In my experience, self-mastery comes through the process of self-trust and self-empowerment through choice and commitment to your ideals and values. This process can take decades,” she wrote.

“Self is your higher self, your conscious union with the Creator of All That Is. Self is life-affirming and virtuous. There is nothing more fulfilling than choosing and aligning with yourself. The lifelong follow-through is in your commitment to Self. This is expressed through unconditional love for yourself. It cuts through illusions of status and power. It brings you back to ‘little old me’- your truest and most powerful friend- your inner child.”

She added that she gave the best for the role for the time she worked as a board member and expressed commitment to serving humanity.

“I am so glad that I have done the work and continue to…My commitment to our humanity will always be,” she said. 

Ms Michuki was appointed as a member of the AFC board in May 2022 through a gazette notice by then Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya.

The agency’s mandate includes credit extension and technical assistance to clients covering agriculture, rural development and food security.

The corporation’s mandate also entails the development of agriculture and related industries through lending and providing managerial and technical assistance to farmers. AFC is seen as one of the strategic State-owned entities.

Ms Michuki is a Columbia University-trained financial analyst and wealth coach, and in 2020, was tapped by the London-based fair standards lobby, the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), to lead teams in Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda to spearhead reforms targeted at improving livelihoods for smallholder farmers and workers.

She was also a member of a government-appointed task force whose mandate was to advise the state on the reforms that could help to streamline the tea sector in the country.