House team readies to vet President Ruto CS nominees
Cabinet nominees Mutahi Kagwe, Lee Kinyanjui and William Kabogo.
President William Ruto’s three Cabinet Secretary nominees face a National Assembly vetting panel on Tuesday as the public raises questions through memorandums to lawmakers about their suitability to serve in the Executive.
The National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula-led Committee on Appointments is expected to vet Mr Mutahi Kagwe (Agriculture and Livestock Development), Mr William Kabogo (ICT and Digital Economy) and Mr Lee Kinyanjui (Investments, Trade and Industry).
Former governors
Mr Kagwe, a former Nyeri senator and Health Cabinet Secretary and who could be the first person to serve in Presidents Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto Cabinets if approved by Parliament, will be the first to face the committee at noon, according to the vetting schedule.
He will be followed by Mr Kabogo, who served as Kiambu governor from 2013 to 2017 the former Kiambu governor, at 3pm. Before being elected governor, Mr Kabogo was the MP for Juja.
Former Nakuru governor and assistant minister for Transport Kinyanjui will face the committee at 5pm.
Mr Kinyanjui served as Nakuru Town MP from 2007 to 2013 when he contested the governor seat and lost to Mr Kinuthia Mbugua.
He won the governor race in 2017 but lost to Ms Susan Kihika in 2022.
Though the deadline for submission of the memorandums was on January 3, the views were still streaming in by yesterday as parliamentary employees raced against time to compile them and sieve those meeting the threshold.
While some seen by the Sunday Nation merely read “I support the nomination of Mr XYZ as Cabinet Secretary” without giving reasons, others raise constitutional and ethical matters.
Some memorandums raise the question of gender, regional balance and ethnic diversity in the nominations.
“Given the current composition of the Cabinet, the appointment of the nominees would violate Articles 27 (8) and 130 (2) of the Constitution as it does not reflect gender balance, regional balance and ethnic diversity,” one Kenyan says in her views to the vetting committee.
For others, the approval and subsequent appointment of the three would breach Articles 10 (2), 21, 27 (6) and 54 of the Constitution regarding the duty and responsibilities of the sitting government towards people with disability.
Some specifically raise questions on Mr Kagwe’s time as Health Cabinet Secretary when Kenya and the world were battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
One Kenyan talks of Mr Kagwe’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and the involvement of “foreign entities”.
Professional credentials
It is also during the pandemic that the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) and related entities recorded several multibillion-shilling scandals involving procurement and supply.
Another Kenyan accuses Mr Kagwe – as a key player in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration – of coming up with and enforcing “irrational” lockdowns and school closures, a matter that was challenged in a constitutional petition 2020.
There are others who think Mr Kagwe came up with “harsh” Covid-19 regulations and guidelines unilaterally.
“The nominee enacted regulations on Covid-19 without parliamentary approval, contrary to the Statutory Instruments Act,” reads one of the views submitted to the National Assembly.
Other petitions question the professional credentials of some of the nominees, with some saying the three men were “politically recommended”.
National Assembly Clerk, Samuel Njoroge told the Sunday Nation that the vetting would be open and that Kenyans would be allowed to send questions live.
The questions will then be put to the nominees by Mr Wetang’ula and any member of the vetting committee.
“We will endeavour to be as open as possible and read the messages sent by the public to the Cabinet Secretary nominees,” Mr Njoroge told the Sunday Nation.
He, however, added that the rules governing the vetting of the three would be made by the lawmakers themselves.
The National Assembly Committee on Appointments hopes to continue with the practice started during the vetting of the Cabinet Secretary nominees in the broad-based government.
Interviews progressed
During the vetting of the new Cabinet Secretaries mid-last year after President Ruto dismissed his previous team and named another, including opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) officials, the public was allowed to send questions to the committee as the interviews progressed.
On the last day of the sitting of the House on December 5, 2024, Mr Wetang’ula said Kenyans would be allowed to send in questions during committee seasons when a public servant is appearing to answer issues regarding his or her ministry.
“It was an innovation by the House that has been received well by Kenyans,” the Speaker told the lawmakers.
“Going into the future, even committee chairpersons would allow the public to send questions and put them to Cabinet Secretaries or any other public servant appearing before you so that you enrich whatever you are engaged in.”
He was referring to WhatsApp and Facebook messages that were sent to the parliamentary committee during the vetting of the nominees.
It was a break with the past when such information would be discarded as it was deemed not to be officially communicated.
During the vetting in August, such information was collated and put forward to those facing the panel.
The National Assembly did not throw out memorandums that were not accompanied by affidavits as was the case in the past.
