By Patrick Chiriba
President William Ruto has nominated a new batch of Cabinet Secretaries and the Attorney General in response to Kenya’s recent socio-political and economic challenges.
This comes after he dismissed his entire Cabinet, except for Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi, marking a significant reshuffle aimed at addressing the nation's pressing needs.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi, the President reiterated the nation's commitment to addressing urgent issues such as food production, job creation, public resource management, and public debt reduction.
“We are enhancing, broadening and deepening the national economic turnaround Plan set out in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda to incorporate a wider range of ideas, programmes and interventions that will facilitate job creation, robust debt management, enhanced transparency and accountability in the use of public resources and enhanced domestic resource mobilisation, and optimise public expenditure,” the President said.
To form a new, broad-based cabinet, the Head of State announced the nomination of the first batch of 11 CSs pending approval by the National Assembly.
Professor Kithure Kindiki for the Ministry of the Interior and National Administration and Alice Wahome for the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development are among the reappointed Cabinet Secretaries.
Aden Duale for the Ministry of Defence, Davis Chirchir for the Ministry of Roads and Transport, and Soipan Tuya for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
Kindiki, Duale, Wahome, and Tuya have retained their previous dockets, while Chirchir, who previously held the Energy docket, will now oversee Roads and Transport.
Rebecca Miano, the former Cabinet Secretary for Industry and Trade, has been nominated for the position of Attorney General. She is set to become the country's first female Attorney General.
Dr. Debra Mlongo Barasa, an internal medicine and infectious diseases specialist with over 15 years of experience, has been nominated to head the Ministry of Health.
She has been instrumental in addressing outbreak-prone infections such as COVID-19 and has worked as an infectious diseases consultant with the World Health Organization.
Julius Migos Ogamba is the nominee for the Ministry of Education. Ogamba is a seasoned legal professional with over 25 years of experience.
Dr. Andrew Mwihia Karanja has been nominated for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. With over 36 years in public sector roles, Dr. Karanja has extensive experience in development economics, rural development, agriculture, and livestock development.
Eric Muriithi Muuga is the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation CS nominee. He is a civil engineer specializing in water resources.
Muuga has eight years of experience in engineering projects and water network design and holds an MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi.
Dr. Margaret Nyambura Ndung'u has been nominated to take reigns at the Ministry of Information, Communication, and the Digital Economy.
She is an expert in Internet Governance with a PhD in Information Systems. She has contributed to the African Union Digital Transformation Strategy and developed an online Internet Governance curriculum for educational institutions across Africa.
The nominations, according to the President, aim to harness the diverse talents and expertise of Kenyans to address the nation’s critical issues.
“While the events of the past month have caused tremendous anxiety, concern and uncertainty, the crisis has presented us with a great opportunity, as a nation, to craft a broad-based, and inclusive citizen coalition for national transformation and progress, made up of Kenyans from all walks of life,” Ruto remarked.
The President pledged to continue consultations and announce additional nominations soon.
According to Article 152 of the Constitution, the Cabinet should consist of at least fourteen and at most twenty-two Cabinet Secretaries.
