'He squeezed my hand' remark resurfaces at Mutua's vetting

Labour Cabinet Secretary nominee Alfred Mutua faced one of his earlier remarks when he served as governor that President William Ruto squeezed his hand in a scary way, during yesterday's vetting sessions before a House Committee.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi asked Mutua to clarify the remark made at a State House function, but Mutua brushed it aside saying it happened during high-octane politics when he was not seeing eye to eye with Ruto who was deputy president then. Mutua turned the question into a light matter when he said Ruto later introduced him to Webuye MP Dan Wanyama who could squeeze hands harder than him 

During the session Mutua was put to task over his utterances while he served as government spokesman where he dismissed a visiting Barack Obama, then a Junior Senator but who ended up president of US. Amisi said the remark by Mutua painted President Mwai Kibaki administration negatively, especially after Obama was elected president shortly after his visit.

“Let me inform this committee that I did not mean to demean President Barack Obama through utterances I made as the Government Spokesman, this was in response to a statement issued by the American Embassy at the time, let me reiterate that I respect everyone which can be attested in all sectors that I have worked,” said Mutua.

Amisi pushed Mutua over his other utterances including a remark about late civil society directors at Oscar Foundation. The two men he had criticized strongly; Paul Oulu and Oscar Kingara were shot dead two hours later. Mutua defended himself saying he was doing his job when he announced government's intention to arrest the two and have them arraigned - and had nothing to do with their killing.

Mutua denied accusations that he was an abrasive boss when he served at Foreign Affairs as CS. 

Mutua's net worth is Sh462 million, which is made up of land, buildings and other properties. When he was appointed CS in 2022 his worth was Sh 420 million, representing a growth of Sh42 million which he attributed to the increasing value of the properties he owns.

Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss introduced the session of questions that would gauge the nominee's skillfulness at handling labour disputes. She asked what the nominee will do to assure the people of Uasin Gishu County who lost millions of shillings in a fake job scheme. Mutua promised to ensure the rule of law is followed with those who lost their money getting it back.

Mutua denied meeting First Choice Recruitment Agency boss Judy Chepchirchir who is accused of fraudulently acquiring millions of shillings from youths in the county saying he only saw her once during an exhibition at KICC.

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya said the country losses billions of shilling due to labour disputes. Noting that the Ministry of labour has a mandate to preempt strikes, he sought to know what Mutua intended to do to ensure strikes are preempted. Mutua promised to open an early warning system in the ministry for different sectors to engage them on how to handle contentious issues before they get out of hand. This, he said, will save the country billions of shillings lost every time strikes occur in the public sector.

Further, he told the vetting committee that the government is not just about sending people overseas to work, but also ensuring that there are job opportunities in Kenya and that he will ensure this is achieved if he is approved as CS.

“Kenyans looking for work are not aware about the employment opportunities in the portal of the National Employment Authority and that while serving in the Foreign Affairs docket I was at the forefront in negotiating for companies to open their firms in the country,” said Mutua.