FROM KAITI TO THE CORRIDORS OF POWER: THE JOURNEY AND CAREER OF PS TERESIA MBAIKA

From Red Soil to Red Carpets.

Teresia Mbaika Malokwe was born in present-day Kaiti Constituency, Makueni County approximately 117 kilometres south-east of Nairobi which, for those unfamiliar with Kenya's geography, is precisely far enough from the capital to build real character, but close enough to eventually make Nairobi regret sleeping on you.

She attended Precious Blood Kilungu for her secondary education a school whose name alone sounds like it demands excellence before marching into Kenyatta University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health in 2011. Not content with merely one degree (overachievers rarely are), she came back for a Master of Science in Health Economics and Policy from the University of Nairobi in 2014.

And then, just to keep things interesting, she picked up a certificate in "Comprehensive Introduction to Nuclear Power" from Texas A&M University in 2016. Because apparently, after two degrees, why not learn how to handle nuclear energy in your spare time? Completely normal behaviour.

The Community Queen Nobody Saw Coming.

Before she was a PS with a title and a government vehicle, Teresia Mbaika was doing the hard, unglamorous work that politicians later love to photograph themselves doing. She launched her career in community service, pioneering community projects, coaching youth, and mentoring the next generation without a camera crew in sight.

She also served as Deputy Director for Youth and Gender Affairs at Ukamba Network Vamwe, a nonprofit supporting economic empowerment in the Ukambani region. In short, she was out here doing the work long before the work came with a corner office.

The CDF Years: Learning That Money and Governance Are Best Friends

Every great public servant needs a baptism by fire in public finance, and Teresia Mbaika got hers. She served as Secretary to the NG-CDF Board for Kaiti Constituency from 2013 to 2017, providing strategic leadership in financial management and governance oversight. For the uninitiated, managing a CDF board in Kenya is essentially a masterclass in patience, diplomacy, and the ability to keep a straight face in very challenging meetings.

She passed with flying colours.

Board After Board After Board (The Woman Simply Would Not Sit Down)

At some point, Kenya's institutions collectively decided that Teresia Mbaika needed to be on every important board in the country, and honestly, who can blame them?

She served a six-year term as a Board Member at the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency NuPEA where she chaired the Technical Committee, the Audit Committee, AND the Human Resource Committee. Three committees. Chaired. Simultaneously. Most people struggle to chair one WhatsApp group.

Then, in June 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed her to the board of the National Environmental Management Authority of Kenya. While there, she chaired the Technical, Finance, and Administration Committees and sat on the Audit Committee.At this point, one begins to wonder if she ever slept, or if sleep simply understood it wasn't on her agenda.

Principal Secretary: The Devolution Defender

Then came the big one. Teresia Mbaika was appointed Principal Secretary for the State Department for Devolution and she arrived, as they say, ready. She brought over ten years of experience in corporate governance, resource mobilisation, strategic management, and public finance to a desk that needed exactly that.

She became a passionate voice for county governments at every forum she attended. At the East African Local Government Forum for Permanent Secretaries, she made clear that county governments had become fully operational and were playing their roles in social, economic, and political development essentially telling the room that devolution was not a theory, it was happening, and Kenya was doing it.

When it was time to leave, she did so with class. She officially handed over to her successor, PS Michael Loikenu Lenasalon, in a dignified ceremony, expressing confidence in the foundation she had built and noting she was "delighted in the notable strides" achieved.She left the building. The building, however, has never quite recovered from the standard she set.

Plot Twist: Now She Runs the Skies.

Just when you thought you had figured out Teresia Mbaika's career trajectory, the government threw a curveball. In a reshuffle in March 2025, President William Ruto nominated her as Principal Secretary for the newly created State Department for Aviation and Aerospace Development. 

Aviation. And Aerospace. Because after nuclear power certificates and environmental boards and devolution forums, the logical next step is obviously the sky and beyond it .

Her leadership was expected to enhance Kenya's position in the global aviation and aerospace landscape, advancing the country's infrastructure and technological capacity. And true to form, she wasted no time. She was appointed as a non-executive director of Kenya Airways with effect from July 18, 2025, as the representative of the Ministry of Roads and Transport on the Board. 

Kenya Airways board. Just casually added to the CV.

The Verdict

Teresia Mbaika's career reads less like a résumé and more like a dare as if at some point she looked at the list of Kenya's most complex challenges and said, "Sure, I'll take all of them."

From the red-soiled hills of Kaiti to nuclear policy, environmental governance, devolution, and now the aerospace frontier, she has built a career defined not by the titles she collected, but by the work she actually did. The CBS honour Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear sits on that record as a quiet acknowledgement from the nation: we see you, and we are grateful.

The skies, it turns out, were never the limit. For PS Teresia Mbaika, they were just the next item on the agenda.

She probably has a committee meeting about aerospace policy right now. She is almost certainly chairing it.