Uhuru's plan for apolitical Cabinet and rise of women

President Uhuru Kenyatta chairs a Cabinet Meeting at State House, Nairobi in February 2021. [PSCU]

When on April 25 2013 President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled nominees for ministerial positions in his government, it was a Cabinet like no other – comprising mainly of technocrats from the civil service, private sector and global agencies, most of whose faces were new to majority of Kenyans. 

Except for seasoned politicians Charity Ngilu and Najib Balala, who were assigned Lands and Housing, and Mining dockets, respectively, the rest of the team paraded during a Press conference at the State House in Nairobi, looked unfamiliar, fresh and fervent. Little wonder Kenyans had every reason to be excited about this refreshing breed of ministers – nay, cabinet secretaries – under a new Constitution, promulgated only three years earlier.