Loyalists rewarded: President Ruto names more politicians than technocrats to Cabinet in delicate balancing act

In 2013, former president Uhuru Kenyatta toyed with the idea of packing his Cabinet with technocrats though he still appointed three politicians to head crucial dockets at the start of his first term in office.

Before the elections, Uhuru had pledged that he and his deputy would be the only politicians in Cabinet. However, Charity Ngilu (Lands), Najib Balala (Mining) and Kazungu Kambi (Labour) made the cut when he unveiled his team though he, at the time, added a rider that they would relinquish any political party positions they held as per the Constitution.

But to his credit, he raided public and private sector corner offices to tap key skills and qualifications he saw as key to delivering on the grand promises he had made to Kenyans on the campaign trail.

However, while a good number of the Cabinet picks had enviable qualifications, it did not take long for Uhuru to realise that they were not enough to fulfil his mandate.

Forced reshuffle

While Uhuru weathered many storms in his early months in office including the Westgate terror attack, four of his Cabinet members were forced to step aside in March 2015 after he released a corruption dossier in Parliament that implicated them.

Those who left office included Ngilu, Kambi, Felix Koskei (Agriculture), Michael Kamau (Transport and Infrastructure) and Davis Chirchir (Energy and Petroleum).

But the real test came on April 2, 2015 when al Shabaab militants attacked the Garissa University College killing 148 students, a big dent to his pledge to protect the homeland against terrorism.

It necessitated the first Cabinet shuffle that saw Joseph ole Lenku, who had been plucked from the hospitality industry to head the plum Interior and Coordination of National Government relieved of his duties and his place taken by Kajiado Central MP Maj (Rtd) Joseph Nkaissery.

In November 2015, the technocrat experiment collapsed when Anne Waiguru, a former senior Treasury official, resigned as Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary over the National Youth Service scandal.

In yet another reshuffle, Uhuru named former Laikipia West MP Mwangi Kiunjuri to replace Waiguru.

He also named then-Malindi MP Dan Kazungu to the Mining ministry to replace Balala who was moved to the Tourism docket and then-Kericho Senator Charles Keter to take over from Chirchir at the Energy ministry.

In the Cabinet formed after the 2017 elections, it was clear that the technocrats, save for a few, had lost the flag to politicians when Uhuru fired seven of the 2013 CSs and gave them a soft landing as envoys on grounds that they had failed to deliver.

In their place, he nominated key politicians who were central to his re-election to Cabinet. They included Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju, former Marsabit governor Ukur Yattani, former Meru governor Peter Munya, former ODM youth winger Rashid Echesa. Echesa was later sacked.

In January 2020, then-Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe became the last politician to join Uhuru's Cabinet when he was picked to head the Health ministry.

Ruto's new beginning

It is for this reason that many observers were not surprised when President William Ruto nominated majority politicians to his Cabinet on Tuesday. If confirmed by the National Assembly, there will be a total of 17 politicians in the crucial decision-making organ.

Only former Central Bank Governor Prof Njuguna Ndung'u and KenGen Managing Director Rebecca Miano are the non-politicians in the list.

Pundits aver that while there were many competing interests including loyalty, regional balance, gender party and involvement of special categories such as the youth and persons with disability, at the end of the day, he opted to reward those who stuck with him in his battle to succeed President Uhuru, who had severed ties with him and thrown his lot behind Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga.

Some of them such as Kipchumba Murkomen (Roads, Transport and Public Works CS nominee), Aden Duale (Defence CS nominee) and Kindiki Kithure (Interior CS nominee) suffered the brunt of the crackdown on Jubilee MPs who sided with Ruto. Both lost their positions as majority leaders in the Senate and National Assembly and Senate Deputy Speaker respectively.

President Ruto also heavily rewarded the Mt Kenya region, which revolted against Uhuru, giving them seven positions, in addition to secretary to Cabinet.

He also sought to fulfil his pre-election commitments by rewarding Musalia Mudavadi and Dr Alfred Mutua with nominations as Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign and Diaspora Affairs CS.

Balancing act

History professor Macharia Munene holds that there were deliberate attempts at regional balancing, loyalty and expediency in the nominations.

On his part, political analyst and governance expert Javans Bigambo says: "The William Ruto cabinet nominees are an army of loyalists, the unapologetic disciples of the Hustler gospel and evangelism, who seem to be ready to execute their respective mandates."

"As to whether they will effectively deliver will depend on the supportive teams of PS and CASs as shall be constituted. But the nominees are a good mosaic of national outlook with an attempted effort at gender and regional balance," he adds.

Critics of the technocrat Cabinet aver that even if one holds solid qualifications, it requires political leadership to effectively execute government projects and programmes. Thus, a political Cabinet could come in handy as President Ruto wrestles with the tough challenges ahead of him, including delivering a bottom-up economy. Of immediate concern is the high cost of living, runaway youth unemployment and the public debt trap.