Tough questions await Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet choices

Cabinet nominees could be confronted with burning questions related to their previous stations as the process of vetting by Parliament gets underway Tuesday.

The exercise touching on five nominees for Cabinet secretary and dozens for principal secretary begins in the National Assembly, the second set of nominations by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration since the Jubilee government came to power in 2013.

Prescribed in Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity, the vetting is expected to ensure State officers who assume office are beyond reproach.

As the nominees submit themselves to public scrutiny, it is expected that past conduct will be in focus.

As is the practice, the public will be invited to make submissions on the suitability of the nominees, and as such they are likely to be questioned about matters ranging from past court cases, conduct in their previous employment and experience in discharging the duties in their dockets, among others.

After the names of the nominees are formally read out in the House today, the relevant committees will fix the dates for the vetting of the officials and invite public petitions touching on the nominees.

On November 24, when he announced the Cabinet changes, President Kenyatta stressed the urgency of the matter saying: "I am now requesting the National Assembly to fast track the vetting and approval of those persons who are newly nominated as Cabinet and principal secretaries so that my team and I can get down to work as soon as possible."

Those nominated to Cabinet will be vetted by the Committee on Appointment, which is chaired by Speaker Justin Muturi.

Departmental committees

They include Dan Kazungu (Mining), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Devolution and Planning), Willy Bett (Agriculture), Charles Keter (Energy and Petroleum) and Joe Mucheru (ICT).

Additionally, relevant departmental committees will vet about 20 new nominees for PS after Uhuru increased the number of state departments from 26 to 41 and replaced five sacked PSs.

Below are some of the issues that some of the nominees are likely to face as they seek to replace sacked Cabinet secretaries.

Bett's seeds

The nomination of Willy Bett as Cabinet secretary for Agriculture has been received with mixed reactions, with some welcoming it as others accuse him of failing to tame the problem of fake seeds at Kenya Seeds Company (KSC).

Those in support have claimed that Mr Bett comes from the North Rift, the country's food basket, and therefore would be pivotal in making sound decisions in the ministry.

However, a section of farmers claim the immediate former Kenya Seed Company managing director has been at the helm for close to seven years and never managed to rein in distributors of fake seeds.

As he prepares to face the National Assembly this week for vetting, the question on quality and cost of seeds during his tenure at KSC is likely to come up.

According to Musa Barno, North Rift chairman of the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers, high seed prices forced some farmers to opt for cheaper uncertified seeds that affected productivity.

He says Bett failed to negotiate with the Government to clear a debt owed to KSC to sustain the subsidy placed on seed prices.

Others termed his appointment as a 'political reward' saying he is a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto. He was Ruto's best man at his wedding.

The question likely to pop up is whether Bett will be able to transcend 'loyalty' to serve the whole country as Agriculture CS.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics and Sociology) and a Master's in Business Administration (Marketing) from the University of Nairobi.

Muraguri test

President Uhuru Kenyatta's nominee for principal secretary in the Health ministry has an impressive curriculum vitae but he is unlikely to face smooth vetting by Parliament.

At the heart of the ministry as the Director of Medical Services in the last two-and-a-half years, Nicholas Muraguri may face questions touching on his involvement in key programmes that have defined the health sector.

A key point of questioning that may arise is the handling of the devolution of health services, which has been characterised by frequent workers' strikes.

Dr Muraguri is expected to provide a way forward on the impasse that has paralysed health services in counties. Previously, the ministry has insisted that there is no turning back on the devolution of health services, including health workers.

The handling of the Sh38 billion initiative to lease medical equipment to counties is also bound to come up in the vetting since it remains a subject of controversy between the national and county governments. Majority of county governments have signed up to the programme after initial protests.

Another issue is the exchanges the ministry had with the Catholic church over the safety of the tetanus vaccine.

Questions over the running of key agencies under the Ministry of Health including the National Health Insurance Fund are bound to arise in the questioning.

Dr Muraguri told The Standard Monday that he would focus on deepening reforms at NHIF to ensure it delivers its mandate at a time when Kenyans are struggling to meet health care costs.

MP a rookie

Cabinet Secretary nominee for Mining Dan Kazungu is expected to face questions about his inexperience in public sector.

Kazungu, 45, has 15 years management experience in Information Communication and Technology.

But the Malindi MP, who was elected on an ODM ticket, will have to weather partisan political feuds in the Committee of Appointments and in the House.

Raila Odinga's ODM is uncomfortable that President Uhuru Kenyatta has yet again poached their member, after former Kajiado Central MP Joseph Nkaissery was appointed Interior CS.

Although Coast Parliamentary Group members have already indicated that they will support him, Wiper's Lamu Woman Representative Shakilla Abdalla has vowed to oppose his nomination.

Monday, Kazungu said said his political differences with his party, ODM, should not hinder his elevation to the post and that he had goodwill from across the political divide.

Kazungu explained he served at the IBM Corporations in Eastern Africa where he was regional manager in charge of the personal computing division in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

"I bring strategy and execution based on global best practices to the Cabinet," Kazungu said.

He also said he has experience in the Parliamentary Committees on Regional integration, Energy, Informational and communication.

Monday Kazungu defended his political and managerial records saying that he joined politics way back in 2010.

Keter's hurdle

A fraud charge Charles Keter battled over 10 years ago could be a hurdle for the Kericho senator during his vetting as Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary by colleagues in Parliament.

And Mr Keter might also have to explain whether his close links with Deputy President William Ruto were a consideration for nomination to the plum docket that controls billions of shillings.

The court case in 2003 involving a conspiracy to defraud Telkom Kenya of Sh2.2 million is likely to feature in the vetting.

Keter, who was an assistant manager at Telkom Kenya between 1993-1995, was also accused of operating a telecommunications system without a licence.

It was also claimed that he abused his office by making 18 international calls to Data Global headquarters in US on behalf of one Edward Keter. The case was later terminated.

Monday, Keter said the case was a non-issue and that it was politically instigated.

"I was never even put on my defence by the judge who terminated the case after it was ruled that I had no case to answer," said the former Belgut MP.

The prosecution claimed that between November 1999 and July 31, 2003, at Lonrho House, he was found operating the telecommunications services without a licence. Other suspects have been charged with the same offence.

If approved by Parliament, Keter will take over from Davis Chirchir, who was suspended over corruption allegations and sacked when Uhuru formed a new government last week.

Kiunjuri's spat

A public spat Cabinet Secretary nominee for Devolution and Planning Mwangi Kiunjuri had over a decade ago with Charity Ngilu is likely to feature during his vetting by the National Assembly.

At that time, Kiunjuri was Water assistant minister and Ngilu the minister and each sought to paint the other as corrupt.

The two had fallen out over the running of the docket and multi-billion shillings projects that included construction of mega dams.

Kiunjuri, then the Laikipia East MP, named eight companies he associated with the minister that were doing business with the Water ministry. He claimed procurement procedures involving construction of dams were flawed.

Sour grapes

But Ngilu denied the graft allegations and accused Kiunjuri of "sour grapes". Ngilu claimed Kiunjuri was angry because a company owned by his close associates was pushing for payments totalling Sh652 million without justification.

But Kiunjuri denied the allegations and challenged Ngilu to answer questions he had raised over flawed procurement of dam projects and price inflation amounting to "tens of billions of shillings".

It was a bitter feud that led to Kiunjuri furnishing the then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources with a "dossier" on the alleged graft.

Lands and Natural Resources House Committee that probed Ngilu of allegations of corruption as raised by Kiunjuri later gave her a clean bill of health.

Monday, Kiunjuri did not respond to our calls and text messages.