The National Assembly Committee on Appointments has approved the nominations of Dorcas Oduor as Attorney General and Beatrice Askul as Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Affairs and Regional Development. The committee’s report was presented in the National Assembly by Minority Leader Junet Mohamed.
“This house approves the appointment of the following persons: Beatrice Askul Moe as Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Affairs and Regional Development and Dorcas Oduor as Attorney General of the Republic of Kenya,” Junet stated. This approval followed their vetting on Friday, August 9, 2024.
The nominees now await final approval from the National Assembly plenary before their names are submitted to President William Ruto for gazetting and formal appointment. They were part of the last group of Cabinet Secretaries nominated by President Ruto.
Askul previously served as the Turkana County Executive Committee member for Water and Sanitation and is affiliated with the Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.
Prior to her nomination, she was a member of the ODM party’s National Elections Coordinating Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the party’s elections to combat the practice of selling party tickets to the highest bidder.
Oduor, the Attorney General nominee, is a social scientist and consultant with expertise in community affairs development and management aimed at driving behavioral and social change. Before her nomination, she served as Secretary of Public Prosecutions and will become Kenya’s first female Attorney General upon her appointment.
Among the significant cases Oduor has prosecuted are the 1998 Nairobi bombing, which resulted in 200 deaths, and the extradition case of Chris Okemo. She also contributed to the Police task force that established the Independent Police Oversight Authority.
Once appointed, Oduor and Askul will be part of President Ruto’s newly restructured Cabinet, following his dismissal of the entire Cabinet on July 11, 2024, in response to weeks of anti-government protests by Kenyans.
