Great harvest time for Raila, Uhuru as scores of PSs set to go

When former President Uhuru Kenyatta, President William Ruto, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka met at an event in 2013. [File, Standard]

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio leader Raila Odinga are poised to be the biggest beneficiaries in the looming purge that could see almost half of the principal secretaries sent home.

Signs of the great harvest by Uhuru and Raila are manifested by a shortlist of candidates published by the Public Service Commission(PSC) in which their allies dominated the 101 people cleared for interviews for the position of PS.

The shortlisting follows PSC’s announcement of a vacancy in November 20 last year, where 2,476 candidates applied for the position of Principal Secretary. Out of this, 109 will have a date with the PSC and members of the public have been urged to avail any credible information of interest relating to any of the shortlisted candidates before January 24.

“The shortlisted candidates will be interviewed at the Public Service Commission offices. The interview schedule showing the date and time will be published on the commission’s website,” PSC chairperson Antony Muchiri said.

At the same time, The Saturday Standard has established that Ruto is set to fire close to 31 PSs and replace them with politicians who will represent the national political outlook even as he seeks to craft a broader political alliance that he will use to seek re-election.

READ: Uhuru reaps big in President Ruto's latest appointments

“The President is seeking to incorporate a robust political Cabinet and the Principal Secretaries who will balance between policy implementation as well as a well thought out communication strategy to explain to the citizens what his administration was doing,” a source within the government said.

According to the source, the President has not been pleased by the works of the current cohort and, in his bid to cement his relationship with both Raila and Uhuru who were his rivals in the 2022 general election, he deemed it fit to restructure his administration.

“It is a strategy that will also ensure that Raila will continue working with Ruto despite the outcomes of the next month’s AUC elections,” another source hinted.

But as members of the public hope to submit their views about the suitability of the applicants, the shortlisted candidates coincide with President Ruto’s pledge on December 29 to further broaden the broad-based government.

Ruto, who spoke at Koiwa AIC during a Sunday service, said he would expand his administration in the New Year as part of efforts to bring political and economic stability to the country.

“We must promote inclusion and broaden our platform for collective engagement to allow the articulation of diverse viewpoints and the expression of fresh, new, and bold approaches. We must remember that, whatever else sets us apart, we are united by a desire to achieve the best for Kenya and its people,” the President said, adding:

“I want to assure you that I will expand the broad-based government and unite Kenyans so that we are able to deliver on our mandate and make Kenya a great nation.”

Yesterday’s shortlist of candidates included the President’s allies and those of Raila and Uhuru.

Some of Raila’s allies included Caroline Karugu, a former Nyeri deputy governor who extensively campaigned for Azimio in Mt Kenya region after forfeiting her Nyeri Town parliamentary candidacy. Dr Karugu is also a member of Raila’s secretariat in his African Union chairperson bid.

Others who made it in the shortlist include former Wajir South MP Diriye Abdullahi Mohammed, Sam Wakiaga Owino and former Industrialisation Chief Administrative Secretary David Osiany, who was appointed by Uhuru in 2018 following his handshake with Raila.

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Other shortlisted candidates are former Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Ouma Oluga, who also served under the Nairobi Metropolitan Service.

Gabriel Oguda, one of the Azimio allied social media bloggers and a former government critic turned apologist, also made it to the shortlist.

Uhuru’s men who were shortlisted include former Health PS Nicholas Muraguri, former Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu, former Foreign Affairs Director General, Bilateral and Political office Amb Galma Boru, Patrick Mwenda Bucha who served as the Secretary for Housing in the State Department for Housing and Urban Development under Uhuru’s administration.

The list also includes former Principal Secretary for State Department for Development Micah Pkopus Powon and Dulacha Barako who served as the National Treasury Director, Financial and Sectoral Affairs Department.

From Ruto’s corner are former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion, former Independent Policing Oversight Authority chairperson Ann Makori, Athi Water Works Development Agency CEO Joseph Mungai Kamau, former Kipkelion East MP Joseph Kirui and former Nakuru Deputy Governor Eric Korir.