Cabinet secretary nominee for the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua has revealed the reason why President William Ruto shuffled him into different ministries in under two years.
If approved by the Parliament Committee on Appointment, Mutua will have served in three different ministries in under two years.
“When I look at the thinking behind the President moving me from one ministry to the next, it is because I move in and in a very chap chap manner, I am able to enact processes that are able to grow the system,” Mutua said.
In 2022, Mutua was sworn in as the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but would be shuffled to a different docket after he noted that some of his ministers were clueless.
Ruto added that the reshuffle was to “optimise performance and enhance delivery as set out in the administration’s manifesto”.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei at the time said: “The writing is on the wall for the non-performing cabinet secretaries and those who perpetuate corruption and lethargy in their ministries.”
Mutua moved from Foreign Ministry
The president then moved the Foreign Affairs docket to the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary from where the diplomatic affairs could easily be handled.
During the reshuffle, Moses Kuria was also moved from the Trade and Industry to the Public Service docket.
This came after a visiting US Trade Representative Katherine Tai snubbed Kuria during her visit to the country in 2023.
Others affected by the changes were Aisha Jumwa who was moved from Public Service to Gender and Culture, Alice Wahome was moved from Water to Lands Ministry and Tourism CS Peninah Malonza moved to the Ministry of the East African Community.
In his defense on Sunday, August 4, 2024, Mutua likened his reshuffling through various dockets to that of the late minister John Michuki who served in various ministries in a short time.
Michuki served in the Ministry of Transport between 2003-2005, moved to the Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration between 2005-2007, and moved to the Ministry of Roads and Public Works in 2008 in which he also held the Ministry of Finance and that of Environment.
Other nominees set to be vetted today are former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya- Co-operatives & Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development (12 pm), former Attorney General Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi for the position of CS Public Service and Human Capital Development (3 pm) and Stella Soi Lang’at – CS nominee for Gender Culture, The Arts & Heritage (5 pm).