The confusion over the new Cabinet persisted yesterday as President William Ruto amended the initial list, with Aden Duale being moved from the Defence docket to the Environment ministry, while Soipan Tuya was shifted to Defence. Additionally, the nominee for the Attorney General’s office, Rebecca Miano, was noticeably absent from the list sent to Parliament for vetting.
The changes, communicated by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, surprised many MPs, who initially thought there might have been an error and called for Wetangula to re-read the communication from the President. However, Wetangula maintained that the communication he was presenting was valid and bore the President’s seal.
Wetangula stated, “I shall not repeat. The President, like any Kenyan, has the right to change his decisions. What matters is what is recorded in Parliament. As you can see, the document I am reading bears the seal of the presidency. This is what has been presented to the house.”
Duale’s transfer from Defence to Environment, a perceived demotion, came shortly after his supporters celebrated his re-appointment in Nairobi’s Central Business District, Eastleigh, and Garissa towns. Sources suggest that this move did not sit well with those in State House.
Duale’s situation became more complex with reports that the top military officials at the Department of Defense were dissatisfied with his leadership and were planning to file a petition in court to seek his removal.
Duale was among the 20 Cabinet Secretaries dismissed amid pressure from Generation Z, who have been protesting nationwide over poor governance for the past month.
Upon Wetangula reading the updated communication, Duale took to social media to express his gratitude to President Ruto for the reassignment.
He posted: “I am thankful to President @WilliamsRuto for moving me from the Defence Ministry to the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry. I look forward to serving in this new role and focusing on sustainable environmental management, combating climate change, and advancing reforestation and conservation efforts.”
Duale also quoted: “Indeed, ‘And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows, but you do not know.’ – Quran.”
The changes involving the swap between Duale and Tuya, along with the omission of Rebecca Miano’s name from the parliamentary list, were seen as part of the challenging balancing act President Ruto is navigating in his current government reorganization.
Insiders aware of the intrigues revealed that the opposition side which has agreed to join the government has demanded certain dockets, including the AG’s. Ruto last week named eleven individuals who will be in his new cabinet with six former Cabinet Secretaries being re-nominated to cabinet.
Besides Duale, Tuya and Miano, other CSs who have been re-appointed include Alice Wahome (Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development), Kithure Kindiki (Interior and National Administration) and Davis Chirchir (Roads and Transport).
And yesterday in parliament, Wetangula told the house that the communication he received indicated that Duale has been nominated as the CS for Environment, Climate change and Forestry and Tuya as Defence CS.
Table report
In the communication, Wetangula who chairs the appointments committee that will vet the CS nominees said they had 28 days to table the report in Parliament.
He told the MPs that all the nominees’ including those re-appointed will still be vetted.
The vetting exercise will take a month after the 12th Parliament changed the law on the vetting days of Cabinet secretaries from the initial 14 days to 28 days.
He said: “The committee to which such nominations are referred to shall consider the matter and table a report in the House within 28 days. It is, therefore, imperative that the committee commences the process of the consideration of the nominees.”
He added: “The committee on appointments is expected to immediately notify the nominees and the general public, commence the necessary approval hearings and table its report in the House soonest to enable the House to consider the nominees within the stipulated timelines.
But immediately he finished, several MPs sought an intervention from Wetangula clarification over Duale and Tuya’s positions.
Minority Whip Junet Mohammed while saying MPs will await the speaker’s direction on the nominees, assured Kenyans that this time round they will thoroughly vet the new CSs.
He said: “This time and this period in Parliament, I want to tell members that vetting of these CSs is not going to be business as usual. This time, if somebody is not suitable, if somebody is not capable, if somebody does not have the capacity, we are going to throw them out.”
He added: “We must do justice to Kenyans and we must do our work properly this time. I participated in the vetting of the last CSs, we know what people told us in that vetting and we know people who have come back. If the records of your net worth are not balancing, just know we will throw.”
Seme MP James Nyikal regretted that what Wetangula had read was different from what Ruto communicated to Kenyans.
He said: “What the President announced is definitely different from what you (Speaker) have read to us. At that point alone, the public will not really have confidence in what we are doing. Unless the President probably came and made the changes.”
Tiaty MP William Kamket added: “While the bar must be raised high for anyone appointed to Cabinet or any other public position, we do not also expect that the President is going to appoint angels into his cabinet.
In as much as Hon. Junet is here threatening those nominees, even him…he who comes to equity must come with clean hands and therefore, he must not stand here and threaten the careers of other Kenyans as if he’s a very clean man. Even him, we know him.”
