President William Ruto is said to be considering tapping former Meru Governor Kiraitu Murung’i and former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti to plum State jobs as part of his trump cards in dealing with the defiant Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi.
Following his sustained attacks against Dr Ruto’s administration over rising cases of abductions and extra-judicial killings, Mr Muturi is said to be on his way out of the Cabinet either by resigning or firing.
Keen not to lose Mt Kenya East, the president is said to be considering Mr Kivuti for a Cabinet slot. Both Mr Muturi and Mr Kivuti come from the Mbeere community. They two are said to be relatives, with close family ties but have deep-rooted political rivalry.
Mr Muturi was first elected in Parliament in 1999 as an MP for Siakago in a by-election. He was re-elected in 2002, but was defeated by Mr Kivuti 2007. In 2013, Mr Kivuti opted to run for Embu senator, which he won.
At the constituency level, he successfully supported Muriuki Njagagua against Mr Muturi. Mr Muturi was later elected as Speaker of the National Assembly, a position he held for 10 years during the presidency of Mr Uhuru Kenyatta.
Sources indicate that Mr Kivuti was invited for a meeting at Kakemega State Lodge during President Ruto’s week-long trip to Western.
“Lenny was approached by the President, and was invited to Kakamega State Lodge. After the Kakemega meeting, he held a meeting with some of his close confidants on whether to take up the offer or not,” said a source aware of the meetings who sought anonymity, citing possible reprisals.
Mr Murungi, who is also from Mt Kenya East, has also been mentioned as a potential nominee to the Cabinet.
President Ruto seems to have a keen interest in Mt Kenya East for his re-election bid after falling out with his former deputy, Mr Rigathi Gachagua, who hails from the populous Mt Kenya West.
Mid last month, the Head of State met with Murung’i at State House, with sources indicating the meeting was part of an ongoing plot to ring-fence Mt Kenya East from Mr Gachagua.
In the wider scheme of things, sources say, a Cabinet secretary from Mt Kenya could pay the price as the president moves to assuage the growing dissatisfaction in the region.
The Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage docket is currently vacant after MPs rejected the nomination of Ms Stella Soi Langat.
A source at State House said that Mr Murungi could replace the Mt Kenya CS, while a female CS could be moved to Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage, and her docket taken up by Mr Kivuti.
Other sources indicated that a senior official in the Office of the President could take up Mr Muturi’s Public Service and Human Capital Development.
The source said the ministry could be renamed to Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management.
Firing Mr Muturi has a potential of fanning the growing political hostility against President Ruto in the larger Mt Kenya region while keeping him in the Cabinet threatens to expose Kenya Kwanza administration as a divided house.
The political implication of firing him seems to be at the heart of the manoeuvres to tap Mr Kivuti and Mr Murungi. The thinking is that if fired, Mr Muturi is likely to come out as a hero, who was kicked out for siding with the public in condemning the rising spate of abductions linked to state agents.
Further, firing Mr Muturi, who hails from Embu, is seen to have the potential of working against President Ruto’s plans of wooing Mt Kenya East, after facing hostility in the dominant Mt Kenya West following the impeachment of Mr Gachagua as Deputy President last October, and eventual replacement with Prof Kithure Kindiki.
The East has always complained of being abandoned after every election, amid perceived sidelining in development projects and plum government appointments compared to the West. The political rivalry by the two sides have always been captured by the imagery of a bridge.
They say the East has been used by the political and business elite of the west to get to government. But are immediately forgotten until after the next election.
The politics of East versus West was a major issue during the tenure of retired President Mwai Kibaki. Mr Kibaki is said to have received a lot of resistance and flak from the political and business elite from the west when he mainstreamed leaders from the east into his government.
Mr Francis Muthaura, from Meru, was the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet for nearly the entire Kibaki period.
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed that Mr Muthaura had a case to answer in January 2012 and he stepped down, he was replaced by Mr Francis Kimemia from Nyandarua.
Mr Murungi and the late David Mwiraria, also from Meru, held pride of place in President Kibaki's government initially as Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Finance, respectively.
But there was too much opposition to the power they wielded and eventually were suspended and returned towards the end of President Kibaki's first term clearly wounded and shadows of their former selves.
Mr Murungi was named Energy minister, while Mr Mwiraria was appointed to the Environment docket. They were replaced in their previous dockets by Ms Martha Karua (Justice and Constitutional Affairs) from Kirinyaga and Mr Amos Kimunya (Nyandarua) and later Mr Uhuru Kenyatta (from Kiambu) at Treasury.
President Ruto in his administration somehow tried to have equal representation from the two regions. Specifically, each of the east counties has representatives in Cabinet, among PSs and other key positions in government.
Prof Kindiki (from Tharaka-Nithi) holds the premier position of DP, while Mr Muturi (Embu) is the CS Public Service and Human Capital Development and Mr Eric Muuga (Meru) is in charge of the Water and Sanitation docket.
