President William Ruto has appointed five more senior advisers to the Executive Office of the President, four months after he promised to halve the number.
The President appointed four more advisers on Friday, December 20. He had appointed former Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria as a senior adviser in August.
In Friday's appointments, the President tapped close allies of opposition leader Raila Odinga to join his ever-growing list of powerful positions under the Executive Office of the President.
Prof Oloo will serve as Advisor, Strategy and Communication, while Dr Kasuku will serve as Advisor, Governance. Mr Ager will serve as Secretary, Governance.
Also in the Executive Office of the President, Maj. (Rtd) Ali Mahat Somane has been appointed as Advisor, Security Affairs Office of the National Security Advisor.
During the nationwide youth-led protests, the President ordered that the number of advisers in government offices be reduced by 50 per cent.
"The number of advisers in the government will be reduced by 50 per cent within the civil service with immediate effect," the president said on July 5.
Mr Ager, a long-time confidant of Mr Odinga, and Prof Oloo were among those who brokered the political truce between President Ruto and the ODM leader that saw opposition politicians join the Cabinet.
“The appointments within the Executive Office of the President seek to augment the complement of personnel supporting the Head of State and Government in fulfilling the profound mandate vested in the nation’s foremost office,” states the circular dated December 20.
The growing number of advisers has in the past sparked heated debate, with Kenyans questioning the cost of keeping such a large number on the payroll.
President Ruto's economic adviser David Ndii was previously forced to defend the coterie of advisers at State House after it was revealed that they were gobbling up a Sh1.1 billion annual bill.
In a series of replies on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Dr Ndii mocked critics, suggesting that even waste in government helps boost the economy.
Dr Ndii, who chairs President Ruto’s Council of Economic Advisers, slammed Kenyans who called out the advisers, and termed Kenya Kwanza a thinking government.
Other members of the Council of Economic Advisers are Augustine Cheruiyot (Agribusiness and Finance), Prof Abdi Guliye (Animal Production), Dr. Dominic Menjo (Food security and Animal production), Dr. Nancy Laiboni, (Agricultural Economics), Henry Kinyua (Crops/value chains) and Steven Otieno (Cooperatives).
Other key offices in the Executive Office of the President include Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery, Secretary to the Cabinet, State House Comptroller, President’s Strategy and Execution Office, Secretary to the National Security Council and National Security Advisor, and Offices of Women Rights and Council of Climate Change Advisors.
Others are Private Secretary to the President, Office of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy, Office of the Economic Transformation, Minorities and Marginalised Affairs Unit, Head of the Presidential Communication Service, State House Spokesperson, and Office of the Government Spokesperson.
