Ruto Cabinet nominees haunted by ghosts of their pasts in vetting

 Alleged shady dealings, unresolved cases, questionable conduct, and weak track records were among hurdles that were erected in the path of opposition leader Raila Odinga’s allies and other Cabinet nominees in their quest to join President William Ruto’s government during vetting on Sunday, August 4.

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leaders Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, and former Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua had a rough time clearing the air on various matters that had been raised on their suitability to serve in Cabinet.

Mr Joho, the Cabinet nominee for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, battled ghosts of alleged drug trafficking, fake academic papers and conflict of interest.

Mr Oparanya, on the other hand, was hard-pressed to explain why he wanted to join the Cabinet before clearing his name over alleged corruption, while Dr Mutua’s public pronouncements and his tenure as Machakos County governor returned to haunt him.

Mr Joho, whose papers have been the subject of investigations and public discourse, told the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments that he holds two university degrees “through hard work and sheer determination”, and is pursuing a master’s at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Read: Alfred Mutua put to task over 'fake' Dubai, Canada jobs

“It’s common for people to have doubts about those from the Coast region, but we are just as qualified as any other Kenyan,” he said in response to questions from Suna East MP Junet Mohamed and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah. “Some of us come from a poor background. I did not grow up in an environment that allowed me to prosper in terms of education”.

Sh2.36 billion

Unlike many Kenyans, Mr Joho, 48, with a net worth of Sh2.36 billion, said he started working before schooling, adding, it did not mean he was a failure.

The former Mombasa governor admitted that he scored a D- in his Form Four exams but added that he had since “turned it around” and attained admirable academic, business and leadership successes.

He said he wrote his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams at Tom Mboya Primary School in 1988. Due to fees challenges, he said he spent a year at home before joining Serani Secondary School.

In 1993, he completed his secondary education attaining a mean grade of D- (minus) before enrolling for a certificate course at Kampala University.

“I did a bridging course to enable me to join university. I did a diploma in 2007 which enabled me to join Kampala University and eventually graduated in 2013,” he said.

 In 2008, he said, he graduated with a certificate in business administration that allowed him to enrol for a diploma course in human resource management at the same university. In 2009, he said, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

After Kampala University, the former Transport assistant minister in the Kibaki administration said he pursued another degree at Gretsa University in Thika.

The former Mombasa governor said it was after the Gretsa course that he signed up for the master’s programme at Havard where he is studying public leadership.

Blacklisted

“It is a pathway to attain a mid-career master’s degree in public administration,” he told the committee that was chaired by House Speaker Moses Wetang’ula. Mr Joho was among individuals in the list of suspected drug barons presented before the Tenth Parliament by the then Internal Affairs Minister, Prof George Saitoti. At the time, there were also claims that he had been blacklisted by the US government from ever acquiring its visa. However, during his vetting yesterday, Mr Joho said the matter was investigated by both local and foreign agencies and he was cleared.

“The investigations were concluded and later on Saitoti tabled a report by the Multi-Agency Team (MAT) in parliament which had no iota of evidence against me. They even went to court and I was cleared.”

For Mr Oparanya, the nominee for Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, his issues with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) were politically motivated.

“Nobody has come to me seeking that I record a statement over the allegations. I have never been given an opportunity to tell my side of the story,” Mr Oparanya, who said he is worth Sh600 million, said.

The EACC has purportedly concluded its investigations into the allegations and submitted a file to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mr Renson Ingonga recommending his prosecution.

Committee vice-chair Gladys Boss (Uasin Gishu County Woman MP) asked Mr Oparanya to lodge a complaint against the EACC “if they forwarded the file to the DPP without you being heard.”

“This committee instructed the Clerk to write to the DPP to establish whether there are proceedings of a criminal nature against you. The DPP responded by saying there are no investigations against you,” she said.

For Dr Mutua, the Cabinet nominee for Labour and Social Protection, questionable public pronouncements and his tenure as Machakos Governor came back to haunt him as he faced a difficult time defending himself. The nominee was specifically required to explain his association with the owner of a recruitment firm that saw Kenyans in Uasin Gishu County lose millions of shillings in botched facilitation of employment and study opportunities abroad.

In 2023 Dr Mutua was also in the news for all the wrong reasons after he was faulted for announcing that foreign missions could engage directly with government agencies.

Dr Mutua, who served as Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, distanced himself from the owner of a recruitment firm that saw Kenyans lose millions of shillings.

 “I just met the owner of the recruitment firm at KICC [Kenyatta International Convention Centre]. She had an exhibition stand next to our Foreign Affairs stand at KICC and when the President arrived, I just introduced her to the President not because I knew her,” Dr Mutua, who is worth Sh462 million, said.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi accused Dr Mutua of making false promises to the Turkey government that Kenya would provide food and other donations to help victims of a deadly earthquake in that country.

In a message posted on one of his social media accounts, Dr Mutua had claimed that the government had sent the donations, however, when told to prove that the donations had reached Turkey, he demurred.

Former Attorney-General Justin Muturi denied claims that the government overlooked his advice even as defended the reforms he introduced to give the State Law Office the autonomy of recruiting its own staff.

Read: Muturi: Government didn’t overlook my advice as Attorney-General

Mr Muturi, nominated by President William Ruto to serve as the Public Service and Human Capital Development Cabinet Secretary, told the Committee on Appointments that over 99.5 percent of the advisories he issued to various government agencies at the national and county levels were implemented. Mr Muturi, who is worth Sh801 million, also noted that reforms to improve the human resource capacity at the State Law Office were meant to“help the institution get the staff it desires.”

“The president saw the merits in the proposal that I made and signed the Bill into law,” said Mr Muturi.

The reforms to give the Attorney-General’s office the autonomy to recruit its own staff away from the bureaucracies of the Public Service Commission was contained in the Office of the Attorney-General (Amendment) 2023 Bill. The nominee also noted that he resigned as the Attorney-General to allow the president to reorganise his government after a public outcry over the government’s poor performance levels.