Ruto swears in new Cabinet amid heightened security in the capital

President William Ruto urged 'servant leadership' among the 19 Cabinet secretaries whose swearing-in ceremony he oversaw at State House yesterday, even as he announced measures to inspire public confidence, which is at its lowest since he took over power in 2022.

Amid barricades on roads leading to the event's venue, State House, owing to the Nane-Nane protests, the Head of State also seemingly wished away his government's troubles, blaming the youth-led demonstrations on 'fundamental misunderstanding' and 'sub-optimal communication', a contradiction of his later admission of service-delivery inadequacies in his previous Cabinet.

And on a day the youth had planned to occupy Nairobi's central business district to challenge his administration through protests, Ruto kept silent on accountability for victims of police brutality, with the police wreaking havoc in the capital city despite multiple warnings, the latest from the United States government.

Buoyed by the endorsement of the Raila Odinga-led opposition, whose four allies took oaths as ministers, Ruto hailed his 'team of rivals' as one that would deliver the national economic transformation agenda with 'integrity, efficiency, transparency and inclusivity'.

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On Wednesday, the National Assembly rejected Stella Soi Lang’at's appointment to the Gender docket, with Ruto set to pick a replacement. Two other nominees, Beatrice Askul (East African Community) and Dorcas Oduor (Attorney-General), will face the vetting panel today.

Describing the moment as a new chapter of governance and development, the president challenged the new Cabinet secretaries to deliver and avoid selfish interests, knowing they would be under sharp focus from Kenyans.

“The people of Kenya have made their expectations known in bold terms; they have also made their intolerance for failure, inefficiency, corruption, and ineptitude equally clear. As champions of the nation’s development agenda, you will be team players, servant leaders, faithful trustees, effective stewards of the people’s interests, and dependable custodians of their resources,” said Ruto, who committed to supporting them in performing their roles.

“It is important to make it clear that my support for you ends if it conflicts with my accountability to the people of Kenya,” he warned.

The President also admitted that public servants had failed at their jobs, seemingly a reason for dismissing all but one Cabinet secretary last month.

“Many public officials have fallen short of the constitutional standard for public officers, as laid out in Article 10, Chapter 6 and Chapter 12 of the Constitution, which make it clear that we, as public officers, are the servants of the people, and that the totality of our actions and conduct must reflect this fundamental principle and the highest standard of integrity required of public office,” he said.

His remarks are an indictment of the former Cabinet and, effectively, himself after he recycled 10 former ministers into his new Executive. He would again contradict himself when he praised the sacked officials for helping build a solid foundation for the new Cabinet, which will have 11 key priority areas, heavy on anti-corruption efforts.

They include focusing on accountability and fighting corruption, continuous vetting of public officers which shall encompass wealth declaration, expeditious investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, and better witness protection of corruption whistleblowers.

“To enhance accountability and promote responsibility for the use of public resources, we shall introduce measures to levy a surcharge against any accounting officer or other public officer who has, by their actions or omissions, occasioned loss of public resources in accordance with Articles 226(5), 201(d); and 232(b) of the Constitution,” said Ruto.

He also announced the planned implementation of a Unified Personal Identification system for government personnel to expose ghost workers. Other measures include expediting the Conflict of Interests Bill and promoting the efficacy of national justice, law, and order institutions.

“As pertains to the management of public expenditure, I believe that the time has come for us to break new ground. That is why, beginning in the 2025/26 financial year, we shall adopt a zero-based budgeting system to re-orient the budgeting and expenditure framework of the government,” he added, announcing a more transparent value-added tax refund process and digitising procurement.

“The reconstituted Cabinet will also collaborate with Parliament to develop legislative measures to promote local manufacturing, value addition, and job creation by restricting the importation of those products that can be competitively produced by our domestic industrial capacity,” stated the president.

A day after a senior US official demanded action against rogue police officers and respect for protesters’ rights, Ruto kept mum on the demos rocking the capital, even as police arrested and clobbered peaceful protesters and traders who opened their businesses.

“I think the key question is the implementation of these commitments into action. One specific area... is the importance of investigating reports of security force abuses, prosecuting those found to be responsible and ensuring that accountability is achieved,” said Uzra Zeya, the US State Department's Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Human Rights and Labor.

The Head of State defended himself by saying he had made efforts to keep his promise to consult leaders from diverse sectors in forming a coalition government that he calls 'broad-based'.