Ruto reorganises government, takes charge of budget policy, economic affairs

President William Ruto yesterday reorganised government, placing budget policy and economic affairs under his wing at State House in his first official act to reflect his vision for the next five years.

Having run his campaign on the promise of economic revival and the uplifting of hustlers from the bottom of the pyramid, Dr Ruto has created three new offices to steer his plan under his direct control and supervision.

These are the Office of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy, Office of Economic Transformation and the Council of Economic Advisers.

Those in the know told the Nation yesterday that the Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy office will act akin to the President’s Budget Office under the Uhuru Kenyatta administration to help craft finances and policies in line with the Head of State’s agenda, while the office of the economic transformation and the council of economic advisers will be tasked with predictive and advisory analysis of the economy, ways of raising revenue, as well as policies to help extend the cheapest credit to the most number of people to steer growth.

“Our immediate agenda is to create a favourable business and enterprise environment, decriminalise livelihoods and support people in the informal sector to organise themselves into stable, viable and creditworthy business entities. This is the essence of the bottom-up economic model, which creates a path for traders and entrepreneurs to build linkages, experience safety, and enjoy security,” Dr Ruto said when he was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth President.

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In an executive order, Dr Ruto also reorganised the office of the head of Public Service, combining it with that of chief of staff as had been the case under President Kenyatta’s first term before he separated them.

The chief of Staff and head of Public Service, the executive order says, will be the administrative head of the Executive Office of the President; as well as act as co-ordinator of the principal secretaries’ committees, and support the office of the President in facilitating the organisation and efficient execution of government business.

Other newly created posts in the office of the President are that of the Office of the Women Rights Adviser to be headed by Harriette Chiggai, National Security Advisor (Dr Monica Juma), and Office of the Council of Climate Change Advisor.

The office will also have the Secretary to the Cabinet, State House comptroller, deputy chief of staff, and the private secretary to the President.

Dr Ruto has also created the new office of the head of the Presidential Communication Service, who will be deputised by the State House spokesperson.

In President Kenyatta’s regime, the head of the communication team was also the State House spokesperson.

Mudavadi office

Dr Ruto’s executive order — which came on his 30th day in office and which reorganises government — also sought to address a reported push-and-pull over the Office of the Deputy President, held by Mr Rigathi Gachagua, and that of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, a position to which Mr Musalia Mudavadi has been nominated.

While Mr Gachagua will have his office at Harambee House Annex, Mr Mudavadi will be housed at Kenya Railways Headquarters on Haile Selassie Avenue.

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The move to Kenya Railways headquarters moves the former deputy president and deputy prime minister far from Harambee Avenue, which plays host to some of the most powerful offices in the land.

Haile Selassie Avenue is known for incessant noise emanating from public service vehicles and commuter trains terminating at the Nairobi Central Railway Station.

Mr Gachagua, the order says, will chair Cabinet committees, oversee the implementation of its decisions, co-ordinate the planning and supervise the implementation of development partner funded programmes and projects, as well as oversee public sector reforms.

The DP will have two principal administrative secretaries under him, one in charge of administration and co-ordination and the other in charge of devolution and inter-governmental affairs.

The DP is, by law, the chair of the Inter-Government Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), which provides the linkage between national and county governments in terms of shareable revenue and related policies.

Dr Ruto abolished the ministry of Devolution, and the provision of devolution and intergovernmental affairs office in the DP’s office means Mr Gachagua will be in charge of the functions of the ministry created by President Kenyatta to manage transfer of functions.

Mr Mudavadi, on the other hand, will chair the Principal Secretaries Committees and supervise the technical monitoring and evaluation of government policies, programmes and projects, oversee their implementation, as well as chair and coordinate national government legislative agenda across all ministries and departments. Mr Mudavadi will also be in charge of a newly created Government Delivery Unit, in charge of monitoring and documenting progress of implementation of government projects.

With two public administrative secretaries under him —one as parliamentary liaison in charge of legislative affairs and the other in performance management and delivery services — Mr Mudavadi will be the implementation and legislative coordination wing while Mr Gachagua will have the supervisory and planning powers, both in conjunction with the President.

In the new order, the President has empowered the newly created Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development, for which he has nominated Simon Chelugui as Cabinet secretary.

The ministry, the reorganisation of government shows, will be the fulcrum of President Ruto’s campaign agenda of a pro-small business owners (hustlers), for which he has proposed a Sh150 billion fund every year.

The President has also domiciled Uwezo Fund, Youth Fund, and the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority, all of which receive government billions each year to help small businesses and youth-owned enterprises.

The President has also moved the Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC), the state-owned company, the oldest in East and Central Africa to the new ministry.

To focus on the youth, Dr Ruto has created a State Department of Youth in the Ababu Namwamba-led Ministry of Youth, Sports, and The Arts.

The department will have the multibillion agency of the National Youth Service, the Kenya National Youth Council, the Youth Advisory Board, the Kenya Association of Youth Centres, and the Kenya National Innovation Agency.

The merging of the ministries of Energy and Petroleum means the ministry — for which Dr Ruto has proposed Davis Chirchir as CS — will lead multibillion-shilling parastatals, including Kenya Pipeline, Kenya Power, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (Kengen), Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Ketraco), and Geothermal Development Company (GDC).

In the Ministry of Health, Dr Ruto has created the State Department for Health Standards and Professional Management, which will house all professional agencies charged with enforcing health care standards as well as providing leadership in public health management.

-Additional reporting by Collins Omulo