President William Ruto has offered a soft landing to two of his former Cabinet secretaries he sacked at the height of the youth-led protests.
The President on Friday appointed former Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management CS Moses Kuria as a Senior Advisor in his Economic Advisory Council and former Information, Communication and Digital Economy CS Eliud Owalo as Deputy Chief of Staff for Performance and Delivery Management.
Mr Dennis Itumbi has also been appointed Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects in the Executive Office of the President.
The appointments are contained in a circular issued by the Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, Mr Felix Koskei.
Mr Koskei said the appointments were to support the implementation of the Bottom Up Economic Agenda (BETA).
The circular noted that Mr Owalo's appointment is at the ministerial level and will, among other things, be responsible for the "effective and efficient implementation, monitoring and evaluation of priority projects and initiatives of the 5th Administration in line with the BETA Plan".
"The office is also mandated to monitor the performance of government ministries, departments and agencies in service delivery," the presidency said.
Commenting on Mr Kuria's appointment, the office said he would support the Broad-Based Government's implementation of the BETA plan.
Mr Kuria's appointment flies in the face of President Ruto's promise to reduce the number of advisers in government by 50 per cent.
On July 5, while responding to the demands of the protesting youth, the President said: "The number of advisers in government within the civil service will be reduced by 50 per cent with immediate effect.”
Mr Kuria will join a high-profile advisory team led by Dr David Ndii, Henry Rotich and Monica Juma. Others include prominent banker Mohammed Hassan and Nancy Laibuni, formerly of the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis.
Dr Ndii chairs the Presidential Council of Economic Advisers. Recent budget documents show that the cost of keeping the team in office is about Sh1 billion.
Mr Owalo, Mr Kuria, Njuguna Ndung'u (National Treasury and Planning), Ezekiel Machogu (Education), Aisha Jumwa (Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage), Zachariah Mwangi Njeru (Water, Sanitation and Irrigation) and Mithika Linturi (Agriculture and Livestock Development) fell victim to the youth-led protests. President Ruto was forced to bring five opposition politicians on board as a way out of the political crisis.
Others who became political casualties are Ababu Namwamba (Youth and Sports), Simon Chelugui (Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development), Florence Bore (Labour and Social Protection) and Susan Nakhumicha Wafula (Health).
The Head of State has appointed top former ODM party officials, including John Mbadi (National Treasury), Opiyo Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum), Ali Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs).
Speaking in Kilifi on July 26, the President assured residents that he had not forgotten Ms Jumwa, whom he described as the Iron Lady.
"I want to tell you that I will not leave my sister Aisha Jumwa out of my government. She is my sister, she will walk with me, I will not leave her. She will come back and she will walk with me alongside the Cabinet Secretary for Blue Economy and Mines (nominee) Hassan Joho and his counterpart for Investment and Trade Salim Mvurya," the Head of State said.
His statement and the reappointment of the two CSs suggest that some of the sacked CSs may soon be given state jobs in Kenya's Kwanza administration.
