A report by ISS Africa has established that female governors have stood out in their performances since their election.
In terms of development Embu County Governor Cecily Mbarire emerged top countrywide with a rating of 65.4%. Her Homa Bay counterpart Gladys Wanga came in fourth while Nakuru’s Susan Kihika was fifth.
Further, the survey ranked Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru who is serving her second and final term eighth in terms of development.
According to the report, four out the seven elected female governors emerged in the top ten in the ranking based on both development record and approval rating.
The three governors in the top ten best performing governors list accounts for 56% of all female governors.
“Notably, women governors have emerged as the best performing both on Development and Approval Rating, with 4 out of the 7 making it to the top ten in both categories, translating to an impressive 57% of all elected women governors making it to the top ten, compared to only 15% of their male counterparts,” the report stated.
The above findings, ISS stated, were a culmination of a survey targeting respondents in the various counties one year after the county chiefs were sworn in.
As per ISS Africa, respondents were asked to rate the performances of their respective governors in devolved functions on a scale of 1-5.
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Further, ISS asked sought feedback from the respondents on the possibility of re-electing their current governors.
“Governors’ Development Rating provided an aggregate of feedback provided by respondents on a scale of 1-5 based on their perception of the performance of respective Governors in regard to all devolved functions including agriculture, water, health, fiscal management, etc.”
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Additionally, the report noted that second term governors performed better in both development and approval rating.
This, the report states, is attributed to continuity as their first term colleagues spent more time finding their footing in devolution.
In terms of regions, governors from the former Eastern province emerged with the highest scores in both categories, while Nairobi trailed the eight regions.
