State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita to Resign Next Week to Join Politics

State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita is set to resign from his position next week to venture into politics.

Nzioka, who is eyeing the Machakos gubernatorial seat in the forthcoming elections, made the announcement during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday night.

“I will work till the 9th of February at 5:00 am. I will then make a farewell call to the president and ask for his blessings and support as well as thank him for allowing me to work for the people of Kenya in his service,” Nzioka said during the interview.

The attorney was appointed as the State House Chief of Staff and the Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit in January 2018, having previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Head of the Public Service, as well as Secretary, President’s Delivery Unit.

Before joining the government in 2015, Waita was the Director for Corporate Affairs at telecommunications company Safaricom.

Waita, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a certified public secretary, holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Sheffield and a Masters (LLM) in IT and Communications Law from the Queen Mary University of London.

The 46-year-old says he will use his managerial experience and skills to transform Machakos county if elected governor in August.

During the interview, Waita defended President Kenyatta’s performance, saying his administration has invested heavily in different sectors of the economy, especially infrastructure development. 

“It is beginning to look like take off. We have gone through an extremely difficult time of heavy investments that has taken its toll on the public exchequer but those investments have set the country on the trajectory for growth. They are investments that position our economy for sustainable but increased growth,” he said.