Mutahi Kagwe

Mutahi Kagwe is a Kenyan politician.

He is the 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, Sicily Kariuki. He hit the airwaves at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when the first case was confirmed in Nairobi on 12 March [https://www.health.go.ke/first-case-of-coronavirus-disease-confirmed-in-kenya/#:~:text=Port%20Health%20Services-,FIRST%20CASE%20OF%20CORONAVIRUS%20DISEASE%20CONFIRMED%20IN%20KENYA,in%20China%20in%20December%202019. 2020] following the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

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.

Professional career
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.

Political career
Kagwe's political journey began in the year 2002 when he became the fifth member of parliament for Mukurweini Constituency in Nyeri County on a National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) party ticket. As a member of parliament, he was the chair of the parliamentary committee on Finance, Trade, Tourism, and Planning.

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.

Kagwe tried to retain his parliamentary seat during the 2007 Kenyan general elections but he lost it to Kabando wa Kabando. He ran in the 2013 Kenyan General Elections for a seat in the Senate of Kenya on a NARC party ticket. He won and became the first senator of Nyeri County.

He assumed office as the senator of Nyeri county in March 2013.

In the 2017 Kenyan general elections, he pursued the Nyeri gubernatorial seat on a Jubilee party ticket, which he lost. In 2019 he was appointed to the board of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).