Monica Kathina Juma is the current Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, she is also a Kenyan diplomat. Before being handed the Energy docket on 29 September 2021, she was serving as the Cabinet Secretary for Defence which is currently headed by Eugene Wamalwa. She took over from his predecessor Charles Keter who is currently heading the Ministry of Devolution. Prior to being appointed as the Cabinet Secretary in 2018, she was serving as the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover, she has also served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2020.
When Jubilee Government took over in 2013, she was sworn in as the Principal Secretary, in the Ministry of Defence serving under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration. She was later transferred to the Ministry of the Interior as Principal Secretary. In addition, she has also served in high positions in both government and non-governmental organizations. Up to date, she is a member of several boards including the International Advisory Board for the United Nations, University for Peace Headquartered in Costa Rica. She is also a member of the Training for Peace Programme and the African Governance Institute. Moreover, she is also a senior research fellow in the Department of Political Science, at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Monica Juma Age and Date Birth
She was born in 1964, she is 57 years old as of 2021. However, Juma has not shared any information on her actual birth date. Juma was born in Nuu Ward, Mwingi Central Constituency, Kitui County.
Monica Juma Education Background
She has not revealed any information on where she attended her primary and secondary education. However, after high school, he joined the University of Nairobi where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In addition, she also graduated with Masters of Art from the same institution. After that, she joined the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where she attained a Certificate in Refugees Studies. Juma also holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford.
Juma’s Family and Husband
Juma’s father was the Wiper Chairman and his home is located at Mutyambiu village in Nuu ward, Kitui County. She has not disclosed much about her parents, in case of more details concerning her parents we will update it as soon as possible. She is happily married to Peter Kagwanja, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. His husband was also a former adviser of the interior, however, he resigned after Juma was appointed as the principal secretary of the same ministry. The two have been blessed with two children.
Monica Juma Net Worth
Her net worth is estimated to be around Ksh 500 million including, salary, assets her investments.
Professional Career
She started serving as a civil servant in the 1990’s. She was then appointed as Ambassador representing Kenya in Ethiopia and Djibouti. In addition, she has also served as a Permanent Representative of Kenya to the African Union, Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD), and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), based in Addis Abab.
In 2001 she started working on the Think Tank of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, where she served until 2008. In 2005, she was serving on the Expert Panel that produced the State of the World Refugees. Still, in the same year, she served in Kenyan’s Position on Article 98 of the Rome Statute. In 2006 she was serving at the Kenya Foreign Policy and Strategy Document where she served for only one year. Juma was also part of the 4-person team that came up with the Pan-African Parliament position on the Africa Unity Government debate before the African Union ACCRA summit in 2007.
Furthermore, she has also served on the United Nations Secretary General’s high-level panel, after she was appointed in 2008. On June 23rd, 2013, she took the oath of office to serve as the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. As a result of her good performance and a clean record, she was eventually moved to the Ministry of Interior, where she also served as the Principal Secretary.
From 12th January 2016 to February 2018, she started serving as the Principal Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In addition, she spearheaded the development of Kenya’s strategy on Counter-Terrorism, Violent Extremism, and the creation of a multi-agencies approach in tackling security challenges.
Serving as the Cabinet Secretary
She was first nominated for a cabinet secretary in 2015, however, her ambitions were cut short as she was rejected by the parliament which meant she couldn’t proceed to the next stage. According to the parliament on her rejection, it cited that she mistreated them.
In 2018, she was appointed to serve as the new Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs. This time she was lucky as she was approved by the parliament before being handed the Foreign Affair docket. It was easy to serve in that ministry as she had previously served as the Principal Secretary in the same Ministry. She served in that capacity until 2020 when she was moved to the Ministry of Defence, where she had also served as the Principal Secretary. Juma took the Defence docket from Rachael Omamo who is currently heading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After President Uhuru reshuffled the Cabinet on September 29 2021 she was moved to the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum as the Cabinet Secretary to serve until 2022.