President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto have locked out politicians from the Cabinet to be announced this morning.
The two told a media conference last night at State House Nairobi that they are looking for managers and that there will be only two politicians in the cabinet; the President and his Deputy
“The politicians will be his Excellency and myself,” Deputy President William Ruto said during the joint Media conference.
There had been wide speculation that President Kenyatta and Ruto were going to include former ministers Charity Ngilu and Najib Balala in their Cabinet. Ngilu and Balala lost their senatorial bids for Kitui and Mombasa respectively and were instrumental in campaigning for the President, his Deputy and their Jubilee Alliance.
The two also denied that there was a power struggle between them that was causing the delay in releasing names of Cabinet Secretaries.
“There is absolutely nothing like that. From the time we started this exercise, power sharing or struggle has been the last thing in our minds. We are agreeing on the fact that the individuals we are nominating have necessary competence and ability to deliver,” said the President.
In the Jubilee agreement the two had agreed that the cabinet would be shared on a 50-50 basis between URP and TNA but insiders yesterday revealed that it was now agreed that they only have two strong ministries under their two offices.
This, sources said, was the reason why they only put the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and Ministry of Devolution and Planning under the Office of the President and Office of the Deputy President respectively.
"It was then agreed that the rest of the ministries be filled by technocrats who qualify regardless of their political affiliation," a senior government official said.
Ruto asked Kenyans not to look for TNA or URP supporters in the Cabinet saying they do not exist.
“Do not spend a lot of time trying to find who is TNA or URP because they do not exist. In the interviews we have done we have not asked any one of them which party they voted for,” added Ruto
The President also defended his choice of former banker James Macharia for Health Secretary. Reacting to concerns by doctors who said they expected someone with medical expertise to have been chosen, the President said he was looking for a manager who is able to work all stakeholders in the sector.
“We all need to accept and understand that what we are looking for are managers who are capable of implementing the agenda through team work. We do believe that those we have chosen are capable of working with all stakeholders. So there is no need to worry,” added President Kenyatta.
President Kenyatta explained that they had failed to conclude the selection of the rest of the Cabinet yesterday as widely expected because a bilateral meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn took longer than anticipated.
The two leaders promised to work through the night to ensure that the list is ready by 9am this morning.
“We still have quite a number of people we have to talk to and we will work through the night so you leave your gadgets here and because tomorrow morning we will have a comprehensive statement for you by latest 9am," Uhuru said after several postponements of the scheduled press conference.
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