By Brian Okoth
Kenyan President William Ruto has reshuffled his cabinet following dissatisfaction by a section of Kenyans.
The cabinet reshuffle comes about one year after Ruto took the oath of office as the country’s fifth head of state.
President Ruto has removed Alfred Mutua, the first foreign affairs cabinet minister under his reign, and transferred him to the tourism docket.
Mutua was key in relaying information about Kenya’s interest in assisting Haiti to contain gang violence, a resolution endorsed by the UN Security Council recently.
Foreign Affairs
The foreign affairs ministry has been placed under the superior office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, which is occupied by Musalia Mudavadi, who served as Kenya’s vice president during President Daniel Moi’s era.
Rebecca Miano, who was the East African Community minister, has been transferred to trade and industry docket.
Water Minister Alice Wahome has been reassigned to the lands ministry.
Zacharia Njeru, formerly of the lands ministry, will now take over as water minister.
Penina Malonza, who was the tourism minister, has been transferred to the East African Community docket, which was initially Rebeca Miano’s.
Controversial remarks
The former Trade Minister Moses Kuria, who drew criticism from a section of Kenyans over his repeated controversial remarks, has been moved to the ministry of public service.
The former Minister of Public Service Aisha Jumwa, a politician from Kenya’s Coast, has been reassigned to the ministry of gender, culture and arts.
Some of the ministers who remain unchanged are Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung'u, Energy Minister Davis Chirchir, Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba, Health Minister Susan Nakhumicha, Environment Minister Soipan Tuya, Defence Minister Aden Duale, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, Labour Minister Florence Bore, Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu and Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen.
Poor ratings
The Kenyan ministers, known formally as Cabinet Secretaries in the country, received poor reviews in recent opinion polls, with many Kenyans saying they were dissatisfied with their performances during their one-year in office.
The best-ranked minister, Kithure Kindiki of the interior docket, received an approval score of 34% in an opinion poll conducted by Trends and Insights Africa (TIFA) in July this year.
He was followed by Education Minister Machogu, who had 7% and Health Minister Nakhumicha, who had 6%.
Another opinion poll by InfoTrak indicated that half of Ruto’s ministers had scored a mean grade of D in the eyes of Kenyans.
The best-performing minister, according to the InfoTrak poll conducted in September, was Kindiki, who had 59%. Machogu of education came second with 55%.
Agriculture’s Mithika Linturi, Murkomen of transport and Nakhumicha of health had an approval score of 53% each.
Others who had an approval rating of at least 50% were Duale of defence, Namwamba of sports, Eliud Owalo of ICT, Mutua of foreign affairs, Malonza of tourism and Wahome of water ministry.
The remaining scored below 50%. Kenya has 22 cabinet ministers in total. A majority of them are President Ruto's political allies.
In August, Ruto expressed disappointment in some ministers, saying they were "clueless" about the demands of their ministries.
"I call many of you (ministers), asking what is going on here (in your ministry), and you don’t have a clue, yet that is your department. You are neither a messenger nor a photographer, you are the minister or principal secretary. How do you run a ministry if you have no information (about your docket)?" Ruto posed in an address to his cabinet appointees in the capital Nairobi.
Ambassadors
On Wednesday, President Ruto also shuffled principal secretaries, who assist ministers in the day-to-day running of ministries.
Some of those affected are in the state departments of water, shipping, gender, and crops development respectively.
Thirty-one (31) ambassadors, including envoys to Nigeria, France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Germany, have also been changed.
Ruto has also appointed 14 deputy ambassadors.
Former lawmaker, Isaac Mwaura, has been named the government spokesperson, and journalist Mwanaisha Chidzuga as his deputy. Political commentator Gabriel Muthuma will also serve as Mwaura's deputy.
"The changes take effect immediately," Kenya’s Head of Public Service Felix Koskei said in a statement on Wednesday.
