Anxiety grips Cabinet as Uhuru sends ministers on leave

Anxiety has gripped the Cabinet after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday directed all ministers and principal secretaries to proceed on a compulsory 14-day leave starting tomorrow, triggering speculation of a major reorganisation in government.

On Saturday, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia confirmed that they had been asked to “have some rest” during what she referred to as a “working recess”.

“Sometimes you take a break,” she told the Sunday Nation. “People will continue working but there are no formal meetings for the next two weeks.” 

The directive also affects the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee chaired by the Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and the other one of PSs chaired by Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, popularly referred to as PS One.

The CSs and PSs whose dockets are tainted by corruption are worried the most that they will, naturally, be among the first casualties in a reshuffle.

“During the working recess, the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee and the Technical Committee will not have scheduled engagement unless otherwise directed by HE the President on urgent business, emergency or any other exceptional circumstance,” reads the communication from Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.

Looming Cabinet reshuffle

Prof Kobia, however, sought to downplay the development, insisting that it did not presuppose a looming Cabinet reshuffle.

“There is nothing unusual about it. Every year, particularly in April, August and December, the president allows ministers and principal secretaries time to take a breather,” she said.

A number of ministers and PSs we spoke to admitted that these were uncertain times and their fate was in the hands of the appointing authority.

Three ministers who were not in Nairobi on Friday admitted that they were not in the loop.

The fact that Covid-19 has already reduced government business, with staff aged 58 years and above either working from home or on leave, pundits were yesterday in agreement that there is more than meets the eye in the move.

In his virtual address on World Youth Day on Wednesday, President Kenyatta hinted at bringing more young people into the last leg of his government.

“To enable them to train for leadership and grow as leaders, at the beginning of the year, I did appoint a number of young people as chief administrative secretaries to assist and also learn alongside their older Cabinet colleagues. I intend to appoint a few more to continue to encourage and to show our young people that they have a place in the leadership of this country,” the President said.

Major changes

Mr Zack Kinuthia (Education), Dr Mercy Mwangangi (Health) and Ms Nadia Ahmed (ICT and Youth Affairs) are some the CASs hired by the President at the beginning of the year to understudy their seniors.

An insider told the Sunday Nation that the President was paving the way for the last major changes in his government before his term expires.

“The changes are long overdue. The boss is keen to add efficiency in the functioning of government. You’ll agree with me that time is fast running out,” the source said.

The President is reportedly frustrated by the inordinately long time his legacy projects dubbed the Big Four comprising universal healthcare, housing, food security and manufacturing, was taking to kick off and is shopping for new hands that would give it the much-needed Midas touch.

For some time now, and as a precaution to curb the spread of Covid-19, President Kenyatta has reduced physical interaction with his ministers, only meeting those handling crucial dockets like Dr Matiang’i and Treasury’s Ukur Yatani.

Allies of ODM leader Raila Odinga see a looming reshuffle. Migori Senator Ochilo Ayacko termed the leave order “a tactful approach to enable the President deliver on his campaign pledges and the Big 4 Agenda.

Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir said the reshuffle of CSs has been in the cards for three months now, and the 14 days are meant to put their houses in order. Mr Ayacko said the President is seeking to harness a new, lean workforce that will help him deliver on his legacy.

Serious reorganisation

ODM’s director of communications Philip Etale posted on his social media pages that there were looming changes in the Cabinet at a time Mr Odinga’s party was growing impatient of waiting for plum positions in government as a result of the “handshake”between the former prime minister and the President.

“Mother of all government shuffles in the coming two weeks.  Serious reorganisation looming,” Mr Etale tweeted.

Jubilee Party deputy secretary-general Caleb Kositany, who has become the de-facto spokesperson of the Deputy President William Ruto camp on political matters, said their (Tangatanga) camp was not worried by the goings-on in the Cabinet.

"It is the prerogative of the President and he can deal with it whichever way he wants. If the leave is indeed a prelude to a Cabinet reshuffle, it is very much okay. People should just stop speculating too much," said the Soy MP.

The overriding sentiments within the opposition, until a number of MPs were handed influential committee seats in the National Assembly, had been that the “handshake” dividend had yet to trickle down to their constituencies and Mr Odinga was beginning to take the flak for perceived and real failures of the government he is now viewed as part of.

It was former digital director of communications at the State House Denis Itumbi who first posted reports of the changes. “14 days leave for all cabinet secretaries,” he tweeted.

President Kenyatta has in the past asked his ministers to proceed on leave whenever he wants to effect changes. The other occasion he gave such a directive was in December 2017. A cabinet that was unveiled in phases saw a number of ministers dropped.

But not all leave orders have ended up in sackings.

President Kenyatta has been consulting with key political players in the country — such as Mr Odinga, Kanu leader Gideon Moi and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka — as part of consensus building that could see them nominate their allies to government.

The apparent falling-out between the President and his deputy following the rapprochement between the head of state and Mr Odinga has seen a sustained purge on the DP’s allies in government, something the opposition chief hopes to reap big from.

Additional reporting by Patrick Lang’at;   [email protected];                                [email protected]