Recycled, replaced and still room for more in Ruto's half Cabinet

President William Ruto nominates new Cabinet Secretaries at State House, Nairobi. He is flanked by DP Rigathi Gachagua (left) and Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi. [PCS]

President William Ruto has named half of his new Cabinet which consists of former Cabinet secretaries, politicians and a 32-year-old civil engineer. 

After what now appears to be the sacking of six of his CSs, Ruto reinstated four of them to serve in their former positions while reshuffling two and naming five new ones in the first set of his Cabinet, totalling 11.

Former CSs Kithure Kindiki (Interior) Alice Wahome (Lands) Soipan Tuya (Environment and Climate Change) and Aden Duale (Defense) have been nominated to their previous dockets while Rebecca Miano (formerly Trade) and Davis Chirchir (formerly Energy) have been nominated to serve in Attorney General’s office and Road and Transport Ministries respectively. 

The new faces include Debra Barasa (Health) Julius Ogamba (Education) Andrew Mwihia (Agriculture) Eric Muriithi (Water) and Margret Nyambura (ICT).

Ogamba, who was picked to replace former Education CS Ezekiel Machogu, was coincidentally Machogu’s running mate in the 2022 Kisii gubernatorial race. 

Muriithi, who could become the youngest CS should the National Assembly approve his nomination, graduated with MSC degree in Civil Construction Engineering (First Class honours) from the University of Nairobi in 2022.

He has worked as an Assistant project manager at the Water and Sanitation Development project and as an Assistant project engineer at the Kilifi Mariakani Water and Sanitation company.

Medical doctor

Dr Barasa, former Health CS Susan Nakhumicha’s proposed replacement, is a medical doctor specializing in internal medicine and has 15 years of experience, her profile reads. 

She co-led the infectious disease pillar addressing outbreak-prone infections such as respiratory infections (Covid-19) Diphtheria, Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, SVD) and contagious diarrhoea (cholera among others).

Agriculture docket nominee, Dr Andrew Karanja, who is Mithika Linturi’s replacement, worked as an extension officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development before joining Coffee Research Foundation (CRF) as a research officer and Agricultural economist where he rose to senior agricultural economist and head of economics department. 

He holds a PHD in development economics and Policy from Wagenigen University Netherlands. 

Margaret Ndungu, nominee in the ICT docket and Eliud Owalo’s replacement is an expert in internet governance. 

“She contributed to the African Union Digital transformation Strategy and sectoral strategies for education, health and Agriculture and played a key role in developing and implementing the African Union Data Policy Framework,” her profile reads. 

Out of the 11 nominees, six hail from Mt Kenya region. They are Miano, Karanja, Wahome, Kindiki, Muriithi and Ndungu. 

This may infer that the fate of Moses Kuria (Public Service) Njuguna Ndung’u (Treasury) and Justin Muturi (Attorney General) hangs in the balance especially due to the President's insistence that he would form an ‘inclusive citizen coalition for national transformation and progress made up of Kenyans from all walks of life’.

While naming the Cabinet, Ruto said the difficult public conversation for the past month had provided an opportunity to reflect deeply on the relationship between fundamental rights and democratic freedoms.

“In this discourse, the people of Kenya have expressed their views on governance, development, economic management, national finances and many other aspects of national life,” he said.

His decision to name only 11 nominees, and his announcement that he would continue with further consultations concerning the rest of the Cabinet, has been interpreted as a move to give way for the Azimio coalition to agree on their proposed names.

Charles Njoroge, a political analyst, said the remaining list of nominees may be sourced from Nyanza, Rift Valley, Eastern and Western to reflect the face of the nation.

“Given that the majority of the nominees are from one region, it could be a strategy to allow Azimio to settle on their preferred names which will be mixed with nominees from other regions,” Njoroge said.

Njoroge said all eyes will now be fixed on the National Assembly, saying it has the best opportunity to redeem its image.

“The MPs must be careful not to appease the President this time round as they did during the impugned Finance Bill, already Gen Z, who pressurized the government to dissolve Cabinet and withdraw the Finance Bill, are scrutinizing the nominees who have some tainted past and the National Assembly must be cautious not to receive instructions from their political party masters,” Njoroge said.