By Brian Okoth
Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday reshuffled ministry officials as investigations into corruption at drug distribution agency, KEMSA, gains momentum.
On Monday, the president sacked Public Health Ministry Principal Secretary (PS) Josephine Mburu after KEMSA allegedly mismanaged a tender of mosquito nets distribution.
International donor, Global Fund, had threatened to withdraw its donations to Kenya, and even asked for refunds after the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) allegedly awarded tender to a non-deserving mosquito nets supplier and overlooked genuine dealers.
The nets, to be used in the fight against malaria in Kenya, were to be distributed at a cost of Ksh3.7 billion ($27 million), footed by the Global Fund.
Following the Global Fund’s threats to withdraw its grants, President Ruto moved in and sacked PS Josephine Mburu and suspended the chief executive officer of KEMSA, Terry Ramadhani.
Several Health ministry officials under the National Malaria Programme were also suspended.
On Tuesday, President Ruto made changes to the government as probe into corruption at the Health ministry intensifies.
PS Mburu has been replaced by Mary Muriuki, who will serve in the Public Health and Professional Standards portfolio.
Others moved are Livestock PS Harry Kimtai, who now crosses to the Medical Services docket; Peter Kiplagat of Medical Services has been reassigned to Sports; Jonathan Mueke of Sports has been moved to Livestock docket; Ephantus Kimani of Forestry docket has been taken to Irrigation ministry.
Gitonga Mugambi of Irrigation will now take over in the Forestry ministry as PS.
Esther Ngero, who had been assigned PS duties in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, moves to the Correctional Services docket.
The reshuffle comes barely six months after the senior ministry officials assumed office.
The PSs, 51 in number, took the oath of office on December 2, 2022, nearly three months after Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president.
In the latest changes, Ruto also nominated Faith Njeri to replace Ngero at the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.
In Kenya, principal secretaries are the chief accounting officers in ministries, and therefore oversee expenditure. They help the Cabinet secretaries to run the ministries.
Still on the changes in government, President Ruto nominated the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji as the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
The current holder of the office, Philip Kameru, is retiring from the service.
Haji, whose eight-year term as DPP was to end in July 2029, will be vetted by Kenya’s parliament.
If his nomination is approved, President Ruto will have the task of searching for Haji’s successor as DPP.
The DPP enjoys security of tenure, and has the powers to institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court in the country.
If successfully vetted for the NIS job, Haji will have the mandate to identify threats against the security of Kenya, collect and analyse intelligence on these threats, and advise the government accordingly through appropriate intelligence reports.
