THE National Intelligence Service has finished vetting the people that President Uhuru Kenyatta wants to name to his Cabinet.
The names will now be sent to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi, as per the constitution. He will then pass them to the MPs on the parliamentary Vetting Committee once it is constituted in the next few days.
Both the committee and Parliament itself have the power to reject any nominees and the president can only formally appoint to the Cabinet names who have been approved.
After some delays, Uhuru is now likely to release the list on Wednesday so that the public can make their views known on any of the nominees.
The NIS and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have recommended the removal of some individuals citing past questionable dealings and other integrity issues. The President and his Deputy William Ruto want to avoid being embarrassed by having their nominees rejected by Parliament.
The list of the first Jubilee government was due to be unveiled yesterday but Uhuru and Ruto reportedly agreed to let Parliament reconvene first.
The Cabinet list is said to contain 19 names rather than the constitutional maximum of 22. The President will address the joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate today.
Yesterday, during a Jubilee luncheon at State House, Uhuru and Ruto skirted the issue but assured their MPs and Senators that they had put together a formidable team.
They emphasised the need for Jubilee to remain united as Cord has vowed to create a strong opposition in Parliament. The Cabinet list also reportedly includes no losers from the last elections who might have expected to be named in the Cabinet because of their seniority in the Jubilee coalition.
Some of those in Jubilee who unsuccessfully contested the elections include former ministers Chirau Mwakwere, Charity Ngilu, Najib Balala and Sam Ongeri.
The four were expecting to be retained in government as Cabinet Secretaries but reportedly they were not on the list to be sent to Parliament tomorrow.
Some MPs have vowed not to pass names of individuals who have worked in previous governments and especially those that lost in the March 4 elections.
Uhuru and Ruto have agreed to allow Parliament to first form its committees, especially the House Business Committee and the Committee on Appointments, before sending the names, according to State House sources.
"There is also a feeling that sending the names after the President addresses the joint house sitting on Tuesday would be much better as the MPs will have understood his agenda, even before they know the kind of ministries that he and his deputy have come up with," said a senior official in government.
According to insiders, the Cabinet list has a new and younger character to drive the change agenda of the Jubilee coalition. Uhuru and Ruto are reportedly keen to ensure the Cabinet reflects the face of Kenya through the constitutional requirement for regional and gender balance.
The Cabinet should be in place by the end of April. The constitution says that the president shall nominate and appoint Cabinet secretaries with the approval of the National Assembly .
Once the Committee on Appointments receives the names, it is required by law to spend the next seven days notifying those proposed while they receive any objections from the public. The committee will table its report in the House within 14 days from the date on which the list was received.
“Give it until the end of the month because procedurally the MPs must dispense with the presidential address debate after four days. By Wednesday next week, the debate would have been finalised and the House Business Committee will have formed the Committee on Appointment and the Committee on Selection,” said National Assembly senior deputy clerk Michael Sialai.
Last week National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi gave a deadline of Monday for parties to submit names to the three critical house committees.
House Majority Leader Aden Dualle confirmed that Jubilee had finalised its list of nominees for the committees. Cord was expected to tie up its list by yesterday at a retreat in Naivasha.
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