President William Ruto, Blue Economy CS Hassan Joho, Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, Treasury CS
John Mbadi, Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and Cooperatives/FILE
President William Ruto’s lieutenants in the Executive have taken a
back seat as co-opted opposition
Cabinet Secretaries run the show
in government.
Since the broad-based government was birthed, a peculiar arrangement has emerged where once-staunch Ruto critics have turned to be his mouthpieces as the ruling party appointees quietly recede to the background.
Ruto co-opted John Mbadi (Treasury), Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives), Hassan Joho (Blue Economy) and Beatrice Askul (EAC and ASALs).
The co-opted team has thrown a defence ring around the President, overtaking their colleagues in explaining government policies to Kenyans.
But it is not all about policies. The new team christened ‘experts’ at times goes bare-knuckled with whoever dares to tell the king he is naked.
On Tuesday, Joho unleashed his wrath on social media critics threatening unspecified action, something that has earned him problems with members of his ODM party.
“A country cannot be built through the internet. It cannot be built by people whose works revolve around Twitter (now X), Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Let me put them on notice; we can also talk, if they bring us trouble we can also serve them trouble,” the former ODM deputy leader said.
The remarks triggered public uproar, with his own party secretary general Edwin Sifuna vowing to drag him before the Senate. The Nairobi senator told off the Mining CS for trying to bulldoze government policies on Kenyans.
“This government doesn’t know how to communicate with Kenyans. There is no need for threats. In the case of Joho, we parliamentarians will summon him to ask him why he is threatening Kenyans,” Sifuna said on Wednesday.
“He should remember that he is not a politician, he’s not a governor, but a CS. He is lucky that we’ll go for recess till February but we won’t forget. We will summon him and ask him what he means when he says that he will come for people online.”
Sifuna urged Kenyans not to relent in demanding accountability and transparency from the government, especially where capital projects are involved.
“Kenyans are not against the upgrading of the airport, all they want is transparency. It didn’t matter if Adani got it, as long as the process was transparent and credible.”
Saboti MP Caleb Amisi also expressed dissatisfaction with some of the ODM ministers over their excitement while addressing Kenyans.
“I am warning colleagues from opposition to stop exuding arrogance while addressing Kenyans in public,” Amisi said.
“You make our political wing look bad and, by extension, valueless to any political cause in the future.” The party line has also shifted in Parliament, where opposition chiefs have now taken the role of the government defenders running roughshod on anyone critical of the Ruto administration.
National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed, leading the charge against Ruto critics, has even called for scrapping public participation, which he said hindered the implementation of key government projects.
“The government is given roadblocks when it wants to do its work. If it must be public participation, getting permission from Parliament, courts, civil society and churches, when will the work ever get done?”
Junet posed on Monday during a rally in Taita Taveta. “When you want to develop your home, you only maybe ask your wife for permission, not your children, father or your grandfather. This thing of asking for permission from everyone must stop.”
The Suna East MP – the latest Kenya Kwanza convert - spoke about the cancelled multibillion-shilling Adani deals.
Ruto’s ministers who were the visible symbols of the Kenya Kwanza government have been pushed away to the periphery by the entry of the new team.
Their absence has been loud in public discourses, with either the President or the new team left to articulate happenings in their ministries.
For instance, it took the President during the State of the Nation Address to tell Kenyans that the country would no longer import maize after harvesting enough. Ordinarily, this should have come from the Agriculture docket currently held by Andrew Karanja.
The ODM troops have come to the defence of the President at a time he is facing mounting criticism over his ‘unpopular’ policies and projects. Kenyans have opposed key legacy programmes, with some critics dismissing them as unreasonable and unimplementable.
They include the affordable housing programme, Taifa Care, the new university funding model, the privatisation of key state agencies and the national livestock vaccination campaign.
On Wednesday, Ruto called out Kenyans for opposing his projects. “Kenyans, please, there is an evil spirit of opposing everything. A factory like this, affordable housing, vaccination of cows, the university funding model and our health issue, they are opposing,” he said.
“I’m asking you, this evil spirit is also opposing offerings in church. Surely, this bad spirit is opposing everything.”
The President expressed his frustrations over the stalling of the upgrading of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport due to the cancellation of the Adani Group deal.
“We are going to build a new airport in Kenya. We may have stopped Adani from building it. I was confident he was going to build our airports, but because of the law that bars us from engaging with people who have cases,” he said.
“This spirit of opposing everything, let’s pray for our country. Those criticising us on social media we are praying for you too.”
In June, Kenyans expressed outrage with new taxes introduced by the Kenya Kwanza administration, opulence and wastage in government. Youthful Kenyans alias Gen Z poured out on the streets, breaching the security of Parliament for the fi rst time in the history of the country.
The development forced Ruto to withdraw the Finance Bill 2024, sack the entire Cabinet and institute other radical measures in government.
