Kenyan lawmakers approved all the 24 cabinet nominees put forward by President William Ruto, cementing his control of the government two months after he won elections by a razor-thin margin.
Former central bank governor Ndung’u to head the Treasury
Ex-vice president Mudavadi to become Prime Cabinet Secretary
Former central bank governor Njuguna Ndung’u will be the National Treasury secretary, while Musalia Mudavadi, who served as finance chief in the 1990s and briefly as vice president in 2002, is set to become the nation’s prime cabinet secretary. The National Assembly approved the nominations in a vote held on Wednesday in the capital, Nairobi, and the new ministers may be sworn in this week.
Ruto won 50.5% support in an Aug. 9 vote to secure the presidency of East Africa’s biggest economy, narrowly seeing off a challenge from former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who garnered 48.8%. The new administration faces the daunting tasks of reigning in the nation’s debt burden and countering the surging cost of living.
It will also have to contend with a chronic drought that caused agriculture, the nation’s economic mainstay, to contract for the third straight quarter in the three months through June and hobbled tea and horticulture production.
READ: Supreme Court Upholds Ruto’s Kenya Presidential Election Win
Mudavadi and Ndung’u spoke extensively about the need to ease the nation’s debt burden during the vetting process. The cost of servicing Kenya’s public debt is poised to jump to 1.39 trillion shillings ($11.5 billion) in the year through June 2023, more than half of the projected tax income.
The government will probably seek concessional financing in order to retire expensive domestic debt, Ndung’u told lawmakers earlier this month. He will likely have to review the budget in line with Ruto’s target of reducing 2022-23 fiscal year’s spending by about 9%, or 300 billion shillings.
Mudavadi said that Kenya plans to promptly settle its debt when it falls due. His comments came after the Treasury refuted a newspaper report earlier this month that the government failed to make an interest payment on a Chinese loan.
Kipchumba Murkomen, the transport secretary-designate, however, told lawmakers that the government intends to renegotiate the terms of $5 billion of Chinese loans used to develop a railway, causing yields on the nation’s Eurobonds to surge.
Ruto tapped allies Kithure Kindiki to head the interior ministry, Aden Duale as defense secretary, and Davis Chirchir for the energy portfolio.
26 October 2022 at 10:50 CEST
Ruto’s Cabinet is a Bunch of Skunks
President Ruto unveils the new Cabinet😂😂😂
President Ruto formally appoints all the Cabinet Nominees following their approval by Parliament
President William Ruto presided over the swearing-in of the 24 newly appointed Cabinet Secretaries Thursday morning, coming just hours after the National Assembly approved them.
When he concluded the swearing-in ceremony of the CSs, he issued a speech imploring the ministers to uphold the rule of law, adding that he also expects them to check on other ministries besides their own.
The National Assembly had earlier Wednesday morning approved President Ruto’s nominees, paving way for their appointment to the top Executive offices in charge of developing and implementing policy and government programmes.
The House approved the appointment of Prime Cabinet Secretary nominee, Musalia Mudavadi, whom President Ruto has primed to coordinate legislative policy and chair Principal Secretary Committees to supervise delivery of government projects.
Others are Aden Duale (Defense), Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui (Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, MSMEs), Alice Wahome (Water, Sanitation and Irrigation), former Tharaka Nithi Senator Prof Kithure Kindiki (Interior and National Administration), former Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria (Trade, Investment and Industry) and Ms Susan Nakhumicha (Health).
Also approved were Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen (Roads, Transport and Public Works), former Narok Woman Representative Soipan Tuya (Environment and Forestry), former Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u (National Treasury and Planning), and former Nyaribari Masaba MP Ezekiel Machogu (Education).
Former Raila Odinga aide Mr Eliud Owalo (ICT and Digital Economy), former KenGen boss Ms Rebecca Miano (East African Community, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development), Ms Florence Bore (Labour and Social Protection) and Zacharia Njeru (Lands, Housing and Urban Development) were also okayed by the National Assembly.
Also approved by the House were Mr Davis Chirchir (Energy and Petroleum), former Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya (Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs), Ms Mercy Wanjau (Secretary to the Cabinet), Alfred Mutua (Foreign and Diaspora Affairs), Ababu Namwamba (Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts) and Peninah Malonza (Tourism and Wildlife).
