Rebecca Miano: A Profile of Ruto’s Attorney General Nominee

Rebecca Wanjiku Miano, born in 1966 and currently 58 years old, is a Kenyan lawyer and a nominee for the position of Attorney General of Kenya.

She has served as the Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade & Industry since October 2023 but was dismissed from this role on July 11, 2024.

Previously, she was the Cabinet Secretary for East African Community, ASALs, and Regional Development.

Despite facing corruption scandals in her earlier roles and having questionable legal skills, she has been nominated for Attorney General following a series of anti-government protests.

Before joining the Cabinet, she was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of KenGen Plc, the largest electricity producer in East Africa, from November 2017.

She was officially confirmed in this role on November 1, 2017, after serving in an acting capacity since August 2017.

Early Life and Education

Miano was born and raised in Ndaragua Constituency, Nyandarua County. She is the second youngest of 14 children.

She attended Kapropita Girls School in Baringo County and then went to the University of Nairobi to study law. Later, she earned a Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.

Miano also completed postgraduate studies in Comparative Law at the University of Australia.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi and attended the Advocates Training Programme at the Kenya School of Law.

Additionally, she earned a Master of Laws in Comparative Law from the Australian National University.

Professional Career

Miano started her career at a law firm in Nairobi called Musyoka Annan & Company Advocates. She then worked at Slater and Gordon, a law firm in Queensland, Australia.

In 1998, she joined Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) as an assistant legal officer. She gradually moved up to become the assistant company secretary.

By August 2017, she was the Director of Legal Affairs and Company Secretary at KenGen. She held these roles since 2008. She was promoted to Acting Managing Director in August 2017.

In November 2017, Miano was appointed as Managing Director, beating 90 other candidates. She replaced Albert Mugo, who retired after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60.

Miano became the first and only female chief executive at KenGen.

By that time, she was one of only two women leading a parastatal company in Kenya, the other being MaryJane Mwangi of the National Oil Corporation of Kenya.

Career in government