After retirement from army, is General Karangi headed to the Cabinet?

 Former Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi

A Cabinet reshuffle is in the offing, and immediate former Chief of Defence Forces, General Julius Karangi may just get appointed.

This comes after his name was reportedly floated among possible beneficiaries, either in the powerful Defence docket or that of Transport.

According to sources familiar with State House operations, there have been high level consultations between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto and some top Jubilee heavyweights about the new Cabinet.

The looming reshuffle is said to have been high on the agenda during the president’s recent trip to Sagana State Lodge, where he was also joined by DP Ruto.

But the Jubilee administration is in a dilemma since corruption cases against five suspended Cabinet Secretaries, including Transport CS Michael Kamau, are still pending.

The process, which is top-secret, comes in the wake of a 60-day executive order issued by the president, following the suspension of the five CSs named in the ‘list of shame’ that he made public during his State of the Nation address in Parliament.

“The president and his deputy are in a dilemma over the planned reshuffle. It might take place or remain under wraps for now. The fate of the five CSs is still unknown, especially with the standoff at the EACC (Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission) since there are no substantive commissioners,” said a high profile Jubilee insider who declined to be named.

He continued: “It’s true General Karangi may be headed to the Cabinet. If he does, it is going to be in the Ministry of Transport since he comes from Nyeri County. Discussion are still going on.”

Former Interior CS Joseph ole Lenku is also rumoured to be on his way back to the cabinet, this time round, in the tourism docket.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is reported to have had second thoughts over the manner he sacked ole Lenku, especially after the Mandera terror attacks. It was however too late to split the Tourism and EAC (East Africa Community) docket held by Phyllis Kandie.

“The replacement or changes to the Cabinet have been on for a while, but the president must also be cautious of the negative consequence, should he effect the changes only for the accused CSs to be cleared later on. This is a very delicate matter,” stressed a State House official who requested not to be named.

“The president is still holding this matter close to his chest even as he continues his engagements,” said our source.

Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi’s name has also been floated as among those earmarked for a position. Mudavadi has since distanced himself from allegations linking him to the Jubilee government.

Our source says Mudavadi’s candidacy for a government post is not as pronounced as that of General Karangi who handed over the Kenya Defence Forces to General Samson Mwathathe recently, following his retirement.

 

“Mudavadi joining the cabinet is still a tall order. He is not favoured by the majority. However, we can never rule out any possibilities. The president is a very secretive person. It is very difficult to predict his final decision,”disclosed a top Jubilee official.

In February, during the Jubilee Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting in Naivasha, the MPs singled out some CSs whom they faulted for performing below average in delivery of the Jubilee agenda.

The retreat appraised both the performance of the Executive and Parliament and it’s at this point that the six CSs were identified and the president prevailed upon to take action against them.