Fred Okengo Matiang'i
Approved aspirant — not an IEBC-confirmed candidate · Kisii
At a glance
Recorded current position: None recorded
Aspirant sought seat: President
County: Kisii · Constituency: Not recorded · Ward: Not recorded
Party: Jubilee Party
Record updated: 2026-05-04 (record update, not independent verification).
Last verified: Not recorded.
Directory entries reflect recorded data and may be incomplete or disputed; an approval status is not evidence of independent verification.
Biography
Academic and former Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government (2018–2022). Previously served as CS for ICT and CS for Education. Has publicly declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election under the Jubilee Party.
Education
Nyamira High School (secondary). University of Nairobi — Bachelor of Arts; Master of Arts; PhD in Comparative Literature / English. Postgraduate research and academic leadership in publishing and education policy.
Professional experience
University lecturer and academic at the University of Nairobi and other institutions. Senior programme manager at the Centre for International Development (Department for International Development / DFID-funded education programmes) in Eastern and Central Africa. Education-publishing executive prior to entering government.
Political experience
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT), Republic of Kenya, 2013–2015. Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education, 2015–2016 — credited with restoring integrity to the KCPE/KCSE national examinations. Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, 2016–2022. Chair of the Cabinet Committee for the Coordination and Implementation of National Government Programmes, 2018–2022 — informally referred to as the "super Cabinet Secretary".
Claimed achievements (not independently verified)
Restored credibility to the KCPE and KCSE national examinations after years of widespread cheating. Coordinated the cross-government implementation of the Big Four Agenda. Led national security responses to multiple terror incidents and major humanitarian crises during his tenure. Was the lead government convener of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) implementation framework.
Sources
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC); 2027 candidacy widely reported in Kenyan press.
Source attribution is not independent verification.