President William Ruto has summoned Cabinet secretaries and the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance lawmakers for a crucial joint retreat in Naivasha to discuss performance of the government in the face of power struggles among his lieutenants, legal challenges and growing opposition to his pet projects.
The CSs and MPs are set to troop to Naivasha starting today for a joint session on Monday where the President is expected to rally the lawmakers to back some of his contested policies, including the Affordable Housing Bill 2023 that is before the National Assembly for passage.
The session will also offer a platform for a face-to-face engagement between the CSs and the MPs, some of whom have in the past engaged in public spats with some lawmakers calling for reshuffling of the Cabinet.
Sunday Nation has learnt that the MPs would end their sessions on Monday evening to allow the President to have an exclusive session with the members of his Cabinet.
A report prepared by Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria will form the basis of the deliberations.
A Principal Secretary told Sunday Nation that CSs and PSs will first have a session in a cluster of five teams before a full house session where the President will discuss with his ministers over achievements and challenges in the last one and half years of his administration.
“We will be there from Monday to Wednesday. The brief we have is that we will have some two to three hours’ session under the different clusters. There are five clusters which were created during the last retreat,” said a Principal Secretary.
A text message sent to the MPs by the National Assembly Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro indicates that the MPs should report to Naivasha on Sunday (today) and check out on Monday evening or early Tuesday.
“The President of the Republic of Kenya and our party leader Dr WSR invites you for the first joint PG meeting/retreat …the year 2024,” states the text.
President William Ruto chairs a cabinet meeting in State House, Nairobi.
Photo credit: PCS
It adds, “You are kindly asked to check in at the prestigious Lake Naivasha Resort on Sunday 18, 2024 in preparation for the Monday's meeting and prepare to check out immediately thereafter or early Tuesday in preparation for Tuesday’s afternoon sitting (in Parliament).”
Sources indicated that the President seeks to use the session to rally his MPs to pass the contested housing levy when a vote is called in Parliament.
On Friday, while in Nyeri, the President implored MPs to hasten the passage of the Bill so that he can sign it into law to create jobs and grow the economy.
“I am telling MPs on the Affordable Housing Bill: Let’s finish on it and pass it by Tuesday. Many of our youths have no jobs. Some are already on the sites. We need to pass the law for them to continue as I have nowhere else to take them,” Dr Ruto said.
The Bill seeks to entrench the controversial housing levy into law in a bid to comply with the orders of the court that declared the 1.5 per cent levy unconstitutional for being discriminatory, among other reasons.
Sunday Nation has established that the retreat will also discuss implementation of the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report and opposition leader Raila Odinga’s candidature for Africa Union Commission job.
Further, the meeting is expected to weigh in on the standoff on sharing of revenue among the two levels of government.
According to Mr Osoro, the retreat is set to appraise the lawmakers on some of the challenges the administration is facing and to offer solutions.
“This is the normal periodic meeting with the coalition leadership to align and acquaint ourselves with our progress so far and vision for this session,” explained the South Mugirango MP.
He added, “It has been 17 months in leadership; what have we achieved? Where do we need to rectify? What do we plan to do this year? This is basically everything about the PG.”
President William Ruto chats with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei during the Inaugural Retreat for Cabinet and Senior Ranks of the Executive at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, Laikipia County on January 6, 2023.
Photo credit: PCS
He noted that the reason for having a joint session with the Cabinet is because it works with policies that are passed by the lawmakers.
“They must align their policies with the legislative arm to avoid illegalities and excesses or acting ultra-vires,” he said.
“The Nadco report is also an agenda and as patriotic Kenyans, we will also endorse Raila’s candidature for the AUC chairperson job. The whole thing is our baby and we will carry it through other Africa countries,” he added.
During the Nanyuki retreat, President Ruto gave six-month targets to each of the CSs.
Dr Ruto is said to have mandated the ministers to set targets, in clusters of ministries in different sectors, based on five key pillars of agriculture; universal health coverage; a digital superhighway economy; access to affordable credit; as well as manufacturing and value addition.
In the last couple of months, some of his ministers have become subject of attack by his close allies in Parliament, who have accused them of failing to deliver on their mandates. The CSs have also found themselves engaged in power struggles over mandates.
On Monday, Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa berated CS Kuria for allegedly interfering in her diary, in an escalation of a power struggle within Dr Ruto's administration.
Mr Kuria had on Sunday announced that the government was spearheading amendments to the Copyright Act to create a government-run Collective Management Organization (CMO) to address challenges facing Kenyan artists. But Ms Jumwa lashed out at Mr Kuria, insisting that she was in charge of the mandate.
Mr Kuria has in the past fired salvos perceived to be aimed at Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, and had also found himself in the wrong books with Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi following President Ruto's government reshuffle last year, handing to him the Performance and Delivery Management Docket.
The second annual retreat set to begin tomorrow was preceded by a flurry of activities following the formation of a steering committee led by CS Kuria.
Mr Kuria was tasked to do a report on achievements by each department. He held a series of meetings with his fellow ministers in preparing a report that will be discussed.
Some of the targets that were set for the CSs during the last retreat are yet to be achieved, triggering anxiety and tension among the top government officials.
