President names new PSs and drops two in shuffle
President Kibaki Monday evening dropped two permanent secretaries in a mini reshuffle.
Mr Kombo Mwero was dropped as the PS in the Forestry and Wildlife ministry as was Mr Huka Wario who was in the Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands.
The President appointed as permanent secretaries the hard-nosed deputy Central Bank of Kenya governor Jacinta Mwatela and a senior official in the Office of the President Mohammed wa Mwachai.
Mrs Mwatela was posted to the recently created Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Areas while Mr Mwachai becomes the PS at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.
Larger changes
The new appointments are said to be part of the larger changes that are expected to be announced within the Grand Coalition Government to accommodate the expectations of ODM. The changes have been agreed between the President and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Contacted about Monday’s changes, Mr Odinga’s spokesman, Mr Salim Lone said: “Yes, we were aware that the changes were going to be made.”
As Mrs Mwatela, whose husband is Education assistant minister Calist Mwatela, moved to the level of a PS, her position at the CBK where she was an insider, was taken over by Dr Hezron Nyangito who was the accounting officer at the Medical Services ministry.
The appointment now brings to two the couples that hold senior public positions in the Grand Coalition Government. The others are Sports minister Hellen Sambili and her husband Edward Sambili, a PS.
President Kibaki last week toured the Coast for six days where he held sessions with local MPs who complained of the Government’s failure to name its daughters and sons to high public offices.
Mrs Mwatela has had a long career at the CBK where she moved up the ranks to the position of deputy governor. Coast people and women were up in arms when she was by-passed by the Government following the appointment of Prof Njuguna Ndung’u as the governor.
She had acted in the position when Dr Andrew Mullei was forced to step aside to be investigated for irregular hiring.
Replacing
In the changes made by President Kibaki on Monday, former Public Works PS Mark Bor becomes the new Public Health and Sanitation PS replacing Dr James Nyikal who moves to the Gender, Children and Social Development ministry.
Environment and Mineral Resources PS Prof James ole Kiyiapi moves to Medical Services replacing Dr Hezron Nyangito who becomes a deputy governor at the Central Bank of Kenya.
Mrs Leah Gwiyo moves from Gender, Children and Social Development ministry to become the Public Works PS while Mr Lawrence Lenayapa is the new Environment and Mineral Resources PS.
The fate of Dr Hukka Wario, who was replaced by Mrs Mwatela, remains unknown. At the ministries of Medical Services and Public Health and Sanitation, doctors and nurses welcomed the changes. National Nurses Association of Kenya chairman, Mr Luke Simba termed the transfer of Dr Nyikal and Dr Nyangito “as good riddance”.
