Uhuru raids private sector for new talent

President Uhuru Kenyatta has tapped into the private sector in a recent Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to promote service delivery and efficiency in the embattled public sector.

Among the notable names in the new Cabinet unveiled on Tuesday evening are Betty Maina, the former CEO of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kam), who will now serve as principal secretary in the Ministry of East African Integration.

Ms Maina has more than 20 years of experience in top-level management in the country’s private sector as an economist, administrator and corporate diplomat.

Another private sector insider joining Jubilee’s Cabinet is Joseph Mucheru, who worked at Google Kenya for nine years and was most recently the firm’s ambassador for sub-Saharan Africa. Should Parliament approve his nomination, he will head the ICT ministry.

Mr Mucheru co-founded Wananchi Online, which is the parent company for communications service provider Zuku, and graduated from City University, London with a double major in economics and computer science.

Intense pressure

The move by the President comes at a time when the Government has come under intense pressure to rein in corruption in the public sector.

Early this week, Mr Kenyatta received the Anti-Bribery Bill, prepared by the private sector, and instructed the Attorney General to expedite its passage into law.

And last month, the President drew new appointees to several parastatal and advisory boards from private businesses. They included General Motors CEO Rita Kavashe, KCB CEO Joshua Oigara, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore and Toyota Kenya CEO Dennis Awori.