Friday, June 7th 2013, By Felix Olick NAIROBI, KENYA: President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto had a few surprises for Kenyans on Friday when they finally named 26 people as Principal Secretaries.
If vetted and cleared by Parliament, the team takes over the
running of the Government’s 18 ministries from some 40-odd Permanent
Secretaries. Only two former PSs from the Grand Coalition steered by
President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are in the list. A
number of other prominent public sector leaders are also named
alongside a raft of new and unexpected faces.
The picking of the
nominees brings to an end the anxiety that had gripped the nation
following the appointment of 18 Cabinet Secretaries who were approved by
Parliament three weeks ago. Kenyans were impatient to see what other
moves the Jubilee team would take to ensure a lean yet representative
government.Whereas Uhuru has declared that he would have only 18 Cabinet Secretaries, the Constitution gives him room to appoint up to 22 ministers. To deal with the challenge of running larger ministries, Uhuru named more than one Principal Secretaries in some of the ministries already been unveiled. Career civil servants were among the biggest beneficiaries.
Two who survived from the Kibaki era are Mutea Iringo, who was nominated for the Interior and Coordination of National Government ministry, and Engineer Karanja Kibicho named for the Foreign Affairs ministry.
Iringo will work alongside Josephta Makobe who will handle Coordination. Until his appointment, Kibicho was the PS for Transport while Iringo was the Internal Security PS.
The Presidency also appointed Ambassador Monica Kathina Juma as the new Defence Principal Secretary. This echoes the surprise appointment of Ambassador Raychelle Omamo as the Cabinet Secretary for Defence.
Among the civil servants elevated is Kenyatta Hospital chief executive Richard Lesiyampe who was nominated PS for Environment and Natural Resources.
The Transport docket went to Kenya Railways Managing Director Nduva Muli while Infrastructure was given to Engineer John Kipngetich Mosonik. Speaking during the event, the Head of State and his deputy hailed the nominees as professionals with proven track records. Uhuru said that the names would immediately be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval.
“We appeal to Parliament to fast-track the vetting process so that Government functions can continue in earnest,” Uhuru said yesterday during the event at State House. Speaker Justin Muturi, a Jubilee alliance ally, chairs the House committee on appointments. As was the case with previous Jubilee appointments, Uhuru paraded the nominees and read their names one by one.
The nominees
Among the Ministries that shall have more than one PS include Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Devolution and Planning, Education, Transport and Infrastructure as well as Interior and Co-ordination of National Government. Of the 26 nominees, 19 are men.
Dr Khadija Kassachom was nominated PS for Livestock, Ms Sicily Kanini Kariuki for Agriculture and Prof Japheth Micheni for Fisheries.
John Konchela was nominated to Devolution while Engineer Peter
Oganga Magiti got the planning docket. Professor Colleta Akinyi Suda was
nominated to head the science and Technology ministry while Dr Belio
Kipsang is in the Education docket.
There are complaints that the
Public Service Commission (PSC) as required by law did not interview
some of the nominees. These claims may poison the environment for the
said nominees when they appear for vetting. However, Uhuru maintained
that all the nominees were interviewed and passed the test.“They had all gone through interview by the Public Service Commission and have proved to be potential civil servants,” he said.
Other Principal Secretaries are Mariamu El Maawy (Land), Dr Wilson Songa (Industrialization and Enterprise Development), Engineer Joseph Njoroge (Energy and Petroleum) and James Teko Lopoyetum (Water), Ali Noor Ismail (Labour), Dr Ibrahim M. Mohamed (Commerce and Tourism), Prof Fred HK Segor (Health), Joseph Musuni Tiampaty (Information and Communication), Ambassador Richard Ekai Titus (Mining), Patrick Omutia (Sports Culture and the Arts), Mwanamaka Amani Mabruki (Planning).
The process of recruiting the Principal Secretaries initially appeared to have run into road blocks after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission faulted the way it was being conducted.
The anti-graft czar said that integrity of the process had been questioned and was not above board. EACC vice-chairperson Irene Keino said the commission had launched investigations and has visited the PSC offices. No charges have been filed against anyone.
The Consumer Federation of Kenya had also moved to court challenging the process. However, their suit was dismissed this week clearing the way for the President to appoint the nominees.
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