Azimio Scores 7 CS Slots in Ruto’s Cabinet Shake-Up, Details Emerge
The Kenyan opposition is set to join the government as President William Ruto reconstitutes his National Executive after firing the entire Cabinet on June 11.
State House insiders have confided in TUKO.co.ke that the Raila Odinga-led Azimio La Umoja faction will benefit from the new Cabinet nomination.
Why there is disquiet in Azimio
As Ruto retains the number of CSs at 22, Azimio has been offered seven slots, four of which ODM is scrambling for.
“Lobbying has started for the new CSs. Raila has been given four slots, he’s fronting former governors Hassan Joho, Wycliffe Oparanya, and little-known Kevin Aruasa,” an insider told Gossipa2z.com.
ODM’s grip on the four slots has disarrayed the opposition, with the other member parties holding onto their stances of not engaging the government and seeming to chart their courses without Raila.
The insider adds that Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who was spared in the purge, has been given two slots.
Mudavadi is torn between three options for the two posts: his confidante and former ANC secretary general Simon Gikuru, who currently works at State House Nairobi, Vihiga businessman Alex Kidake, who is Mudavadi’s political adversary but an ally of Ruto, and Adagala, a politician.
The source also revealed there being the likelihood of the return of Aden Duale and Mithika Linturi, who, before the Cabinet dismissal, served in the Defence and Agriculture dockets, respectively.
The remaining slots will be shared amongst the president and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.
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The focus will be on Gachagua’s backyard and their reaction after Ruto nominates his team, considering the pronouncements by some of the deputy president’s allies who have vowed not to accept anything less than eight Cabinet slots for Mt Kenya natives.
Meanwhile, Raila will remain fixated on his bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.
How Ruto wants his new Cabinet to look like
Ruto has been loud about his new resolve to put together a competent team that will help him deliver his agenda.
He hinted at having a broad-based executive that will have the face of Kenyan unity, all indications pointing to the incorporation of the opposition into the government.
His deputy counseled him to check the personal attributions of his nominees to avoid having onboard incompetent but arrogant bureaucrats.
The president dismissed his Cabinet on July 11 and attributed the move to the Kenyan public’s evaluation of his Cabinet, which was unimpressed by the CSs’ below-par performance.
He then gazetted the dismissal a week later, appointing Mudavadi to act as the Cabinet secretary in all ministries.
This came after weeks of a revolt engineered by the local youth who swore not to tire in pursuit of governance change.
Azimio Scores 7 CS Slots in Ruto’s Cabinet Shake-Up, Details Emerge
