CAS Mercy Mwangangi has become a common household name over the last few weeks. She has, on several occasions, graced our screens since the Covid-19 pandemic became a national crisis. She has become very popular among Netizens, who refer to her as a beauty with brains. But who exactly is Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi?
Dr. Mercy Mwangangi is the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health in Kenya. She is a graduate with a Master’s degree in Health Economics and Policy from the University of Adelaide, Australia in 2015. Before she was appointed as a CAS by President Uhuru Kenyatta in January 2020, she worked as the Head of Health Financing and Health Economics at the Ministry of Health.
Education and Career
Her journey to the top was, however, not without hard work and persistence. CAS Mercy Mwangangi was born in Machakos in 1986. She attended Pangani Girls High School and later on became a student at the University of Nairobi, where she pursued medicine. She took on an internship position at Machakos Level Five Hospital for one year before moving to Meru South, Tharaka Nithi county, where she perfected her Public Health Skills. At the age of 23, she became the District Medical Officer of Health, serving at least 30 Health facilities in Meru.
Mwangangi’s hard work did not go unnoticed. Mercy scored two scholarships to the University of Adelaide in Australia, where she pursued her Master’s degree. She also did a leadership course from which she received an Australian Leadership Award, which is an additional fellowship offered to applicants who demonstrate outstanding leadership skills and can potentially influence development outcomes in their home country.
Her Return to KEnya
After her return to the country, Mercy worked as an unpaid intern at the Ministry of Health for 18 months, after which she was posted to the Ministry’s Monitoring and Evaluation department. She was later on moved to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), where she helped effect some significant changes. She took on some initiatives like the Linda Mama Programme to help women gain access to free maternity services, the health insurance strategy for the poor, and the conditional grant framework for county governments.
Dr. Mwangangi takes on an additional role as a joint secretary in the taskforce on Universal Health Coverage, one of the pillars of Jubilee’s Big 4 Agenda. She is also an active member of the African Women in Leadership Network (WILN). This forum offers a platform for female alumni to engage in discussions on issues affecting women. They also share valuable ideas that help in the advancement of African women. The 33 – year old CAS credits her success to her mother, who is a lawyer, her father, a businessman, and her younger brother, who she says has played a supportive role in her life and career.
Role in The Fight Against Covid-19
Dr. Mwangangi stole headlines on Thursday, March 26. This is when she updated the nation on the state of Covid -19 cases in the country. She went ahead to confirm three new cases of Covid -19 in Kenya. All the 3 cases had come into contact with the other group, bringing the number of cases to 31. Since her first appearance, the intelligent and soft-spoken CAS has been updating Kenyans on the rising cases, deaths, and recoveries. She has also been answering questions from the press during the daily briefings on the state of the pandemic.
The eloquent, calm, and confident beauty is in the frontline along with the Health CS Mutahi Kagwe. They are helping in keeping the Kenyan citizens up-to-date on matters Coronavirus. They also offer useful advice to curb the spread of the deadly airborne virus. Kenyan citizens took an instant liking to her. Many refer to her as a breath of fresh air, in comparison to the previous briefings.
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