Graft claims blot Michael Kamau’s 34 years in public service
What you need to know:
- The engineer has had many highs in his tenure.
- He says that his day starts and ends with a prayer.
Suspended Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau arguably faces the bumpiest stretch in his 34-year ride in the public service.
The engineer’s acceleration through the ranks in the civil service hit a bump when he was cited in the “List of Shame” among four other ministers suspected to have engaged in corruption in the course of their two-year tenure.
Ranked by analysts as the best performing Cabinet Secretary in 2013, Mr Kamau’s seemingly untainted career took another beating on Thursday when Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko announced that he would be facing charges.
The DPP cleared Labour Cabinet secretary Kazungu Kambi, saying there was insufficient evidence to have him tried over abuse of office. Lands Secretary Charity Ngilu and her Agriculture counterpart Felix Koskei had earlier been given the benefit of doubt by the EACC over allegations of graft.
That left Mr Kamau, a staunch Catholic who says he never misses Mass on Sundays, as the black sheep in the Jubilee Cabinet.
So staunch is he in his faith that he was among the thousands who attended the beatification of Blessed Irene Stefani at the Dedan Kimathi University grounds on May 23.
CHANGE DESIGN
The EACC alleges that Mr Kamau, 57, was complicit in a deal in which a contractor colluded with a resident engineer and other public servants to unprocedurally change the design of a road in Bungoma County, a move that it says led to massive loss of public funds.
The engineer, who idolises former Cabinet ministers Simeon Nyachae and the late John Michuki, has had many highs in his tenure.
One of his most memorable directives is the banning of night travel for long-distance buses in December 2013 following a spate of fatal accidents.
The move met a lot of resistance from players in the matatu industry and led to paralysis of businesses that had been cashing in on night travellers.
In an interview with K24 early this year, he said he was glad that the ban saw a 20 per cent reduction in the number of fatalities on the roads.
He was also proud to have overseen the expansion of the Mombasa Port that enabled it to handle a million containers in 2014, which made it the second best in Africa after Durban, South Africa.
According to the Transport ministry website, other projects that have happened under Mr Kamau’s stewardship are the construction of the second runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and construction of the fourth terminal plus the Greenfield Terminal of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The site also lists the construction of the Isiolo Airport, the development of Lamu Port and the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway as some of the undertakings under Mr Kamau’s watch.
The Presidency’s website says the father of two joined the public service in 1981 and rose through the ranks in the defunct ministry of Roads and Public Works.
His former responsibilities include being Moi University engineer between 1990 and 1997, a principal superintending engineer in the Public Works ministry, 1998, a chief engineer in 2006, a roads secretary in August 2007 and a permanent secretary between October 2007 and April 2008.
“I have landmarks everywhere…,” said the father of two.
Mr Kamau also said that his day starts and ends with a prayer, and that the only thing that can make him miss Mass is travelling.
