President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed 13 Cabinet Secretaries in a major overhaul of his administration as he embarks on achieving his second term agenda, crystallised as the Big Four Action Plan.
Only six Cabinet Secretaries, Henry Rotich (National Treasury), Fred Matiang’i (Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government/Acting Minister of Education), Charles Keter (Ministry of Energy & Petroleum), Joseph Mucheru (Ministry of Information, Communications & Technology), James Macharia (Transport and Infrastructure,Housing and Urban Development) and Najib Balala (Tourism) have been retained.
In an address from State House, Nairobi, President Uhuru also nominated former Turkana Senator John Munyes, former Marsabit Governor Ukur Yattani and Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to join his Cabinet.
Mr Joseph Kinyua has been retained as Head of Public Service while Nzioka Waita will serve as Chief of Staff.
Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Wanyama Musiambo has been promoted to deputy Head of Public Service.
As expected, former Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua has been appointed o replace Lawrence Lenayapa as State House Comptroller. Lenayapa has been appointed Kenya ambassador to Netherlands.
George Kinoti was also named as the Acting Director of Criminal Investigations replacing Ndegwa Muhoro.
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Samuel Arachi has been dropped as the Deputy Inspector General in charge of the Administration Police and has be replaced by Noor Gabow while his Kenya Police counterpart Joel Kitili has been replaced by Edward Njoroge Mbugua in acting capacities.
More names are expected in the coming days and those left out in the initial list may be redeployed within Cabinet.
The process of naming the Cabinet had been delayed as Deputy President William Ruto was on an overseas trip.
Anxiety had gripped the CSs after they were directed last week to proceed on leave with only Rotich and Matiang’i remaining in their positions due to the nature of their dockets.
The CSs had also been asked to prepare memoranda on how their ministries will aid implementation of the Big Four Agenda, that entails affordable housing, food security, manufacturing and affordable healthcare for all.
Earlier in the day, President Uhuru flagged off truckloads of books to primary and secondary schools in a new government initiative to ensure each student has a textbook for each of the core subjects.
In this programme, the Government has spent Ksh 7.5 billion. Previously, when funds to buy books were sent to schools, more than Ksh 20 billion was spent annually.
With this initiative, the government is, therefore, saving Ksh 13.82 billion.
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As a result, the cost of textbooks has gone down by more than 50%.
“I am reliably informed that the cost of textbooks has significantly reduced, hence benefitting parents and guardians,” said the President.
The flagging off ceremony took place at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa at Karen, Nairobi.
The President warned against abuse of systems that led to the exploitation of the public and misuse of taxpayers’ funds.
He cited the example of books published in Nairobi but sold at cheaper prices in Kigali, Rwanda, than in Kenya.
“It is clear that we have abused our systems. I will be tough on those who manipulate the system for personal gain,” the Head of State warned.
