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MERCY WANJAU, EGH – SECRETARY TO THE CABINET REPUBLIC OF KENYA
Mercy Wanjau is not only the Secretary to the Cabinet: she is championing digital governance and institutional transformation across Africa.
In many ways, Mrs. Mercy Wanjau’s work sits at the intersection of national transformation and continental influence. As Secretary to the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya, she leads one of Africa’s most forward-leaning public offices, one that shapes how government decisions are made, documented and implemented.
Under her leadership, Kenya’s Cabinet Office has become a model for digital governance in Africa. She oversaw the country’s first-ever paperless Cabinet meeting in 2023 and continues to champion the secure digitisation of Cabinet processes. These innovations are now being studied by other African governments seeking to strengthen coordination and accountability at the highest levels of the executive.
Before her current role, Mrs. Wanjau served as Acting Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the ICT sector regulator, where she advanced Kenya’s digital regulatory agenda. Notably, she led the institution through the COVID-19 disruption with resilience and foresight, a period during which Kenya was recognised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the first African country to issue regulatory directives that ensured business continuity in the ICT sector.
Earlier, while serving in the Authority’s Legal Services Department, she played a central role in shaping Kenya’s regulatory framework, most notably as Chair of the Taskforce whose work led to the enactment of the Data Protection Act (2019). This paved the way for the establishment of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in 2020. Since its creation, the Office has made remarkable strides in strengthening data privacy in Kenya and is now a model for Africa.
This kind of work reflects the leadership concept of cathedral building — that meaningful progress is achieved when each person brings their unique skill, craft or resource to a shared vision. When Europe’s great cathedrals were built, stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters and townspeople alike offered what they had, knowing they would never see the finished masterpiece. Theirs was an act of faith in the future. In much the same way, Mrs. Wanjau approaches leadership as a long-term endeavour, one where every policy, system and reform is a building block for generations to come.
Today, recognising that technology offers a powerful leapfrogging opportunity for Kenya and the rest of Africa, she continues to play an active role in the continent’s digital transformation journey. This is achieved through collaboration with multilateral bodies, regional regulators and global institutions to promote secure, citizen-centred public systems.
Her stewardship of Kenya’s expanding eCitizen platform, which has unlocked access to thousands of digital government services, stands as a practical model from which many African countries are learning. Notably, through her oversight of the rollout of services on the platform, including the implementation of accessibility features for persons with disabilities, Kenya was recognised in September 2024, during the Pre-Global Disability Summit held in Nairobi, as a leader in advancing digital inclusion for persons with disabilities.
An Eisenhower Fellow and seasoned governance expert, Mrs. Wanjau combines global insight with a distinctly African sense of purpose. She is an alumna of the University of Nairobi, and the University of Cape Town. She has completed executive programmes at Oxford and Strathmore Business Schools.
Through her work, she has quietly but powerfully shaped the conversation on how African governments can use technology to deliver dignity, efficiency and trust to their people. And while her official role is Kenyan, her impact reaches far beyond the country’s borders, inspiring African leaders to reimagine what good governance looks like in the digital age.
Mrs. Wanjau is a highly experienced legal practitioner with exceptional leadership skills and over 20 years experience in the ICT sector, gained from various leadership roles in telecommunications, broadcasting, e-commerce, cybersecurity, data protection and postal services, both in public and private sector organizations. According to her posts on LinkedIn, she been privileged to witness the transformative power of responsive public policy, regulatory reforms and innovative technologies for businesses and communities first hand.
She has been bestowed with the national honour of the Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart (EGH) for her distinguished service to her country, Kenya.
