- The handing-over ceremony was held at the ministry headquarters in Nairobi.
- Joho took the oath of office on Thursday alongside other 18 Cabinet appointees in a ceremony presided over by President William Ruto.
Image: HASSAN JOHO / X
Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs CS Hassan Joho has officially taken over office from his predecessor Salim Mvurya.
President William Ruto appointed Mvurya to take over the Investments, Trade and Industry Ministry formerly held by Rebecca Miano.
The handing-over ceremony was held at the ministry headquarters in Nairobi.
Joho exuded confidence saying he will create job opportunities for youths in the country.
"I strongly believe that this ministry shall be the next frontier in both wealth and job creation for our country and I will work closely with the team from the ministry, my Cabinet colleagues and stakeholders to help achieve this aspiration," Joho said in a statement on X.
The handing-over ceremony was attended by other senior officials including Principal Secretaries Elijah Mwangi (Mining), Betsy Njagi (Blue Economy and Fisheries) and Geoffrey Kaituko (Maritime Affairs and Shipping) among others.
Joho took the oath of office on Thursday alongside 18 other Cabinet appointees in a ceremony presided over by President William Ruto.
When he appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments, Joho spelt out a 10-point plan he intends to use to turn around the ministry.
He said that getting rid of cartels will be his first order of business when he assumes office.
"There are greater cartels in the mining industry; that is where I will begin,” Joho said.
He further made public his plan to turn around the ministry, beginning with digitising all ministry processes.
Joho said that through this, he intends to create an open-source repository for information access as well as build local capacity for technological system control.
He went on to say that he will be a listening CS and will involve and have dialogue and exchange of ideas with all stakeholders.
“I will engage the private sector through public-private partnerships...conduct regular accountability briefings for public engagement,” he said.
The former Mombasa governor added that he will also develop a Blue Carbon Regulatory framework to guide carbon trading and exploit its economic potential.
Joho also called for a review of the Mining Act to ensure completion for process efficiency.
He noted that he will also focus on Enhanced Community Development Agreements through which communities can get empowerment and engagement.
This, he said, will also help in the development of the Public participation framework.