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Explainer: Who is in charge? Ruto, Gachagua, Mudavadi are abroad

The Constitution does not anticipate a vacuum.

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by JAMES MBAKA

News14 September 2023 - 14:06

In Summary


  • The constitution places National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula third in command in the country's political leadership hierarchy.
  • Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei is the one overseeing the day-to-day running of government.
President William Ruto being escorted to the Air Force One by a section of Kenya Kwanza leaders and Cabinet Secretaries at JKIA, Nairobi, on September 13, 2023

The country is without its trio top leadership after President William Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi travelled abroad.

The president left the country on Wednesday night to New York, Gachagua is in Colombia while Mudavadi is in London.

While there is no constitutional crisis following their absence from the country at the same time, questions have arisen as to who is in charge.

The constitution places National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula third in command in the country's political leadership hierarchy.

Wetang'ula could receive any international guests including abrupt visits or emergency landings by Heads of State on behalf of the president.

This means that in the absence of Ruto and Gachagua, Mudavadi ranks above in the constitutional and political pecking order.

However, in terms of operations of the executive arm of government, Mudavadi is a key plank of the President's administration.

Diplomacy and political analyst Lewis Onkundi argues that there is no leadership vacuum and that the president is always in charge whether within or outside the country.

''It doesn't matter where he is, at any given time the President remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces and the Head of State,'' he said.

He argued that the Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei is the one overseeing the day-to-day running of government being the senior public servant.

''You would realise that the Head of the Public Service is a critical public servant whose mandate involves being in charge of real operations of government including receiving all forms of intelligence,'' Onkundi said.

On Wednesday President Ruto left for the United States where he is scheduled to attend a key United National General Assembly and also hold bilateral meetings.

The president would then attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the progress toward the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would be assessed.

Ruto is planning to visit Silicon Valley in San Francisco, where he will engage representatives of tech giants such as Microsoft, Intel, Google, and Apple.

Official communication from the State House said the President will underscore Kenya's commitment to technological innovation and its pivotal role as a trading partner with the United States.

Gachagua, the country's second in command is in Colombia on a mission to market coffee.

He is accompanied by government officials as well as select coffee stakeholders.

Mudavadi is in the United Kingdom for a three-day official visit.

Mudavadi's tour includes official engagements with the United Kingdom bureaucrats, with the primary focus of strengthening the Kenya-UK bilateral partnership.

Accompanying Mudavadi is Attorney General Justin Muturi, and Transport Principal Secretary Mohamed Daghar.

On Thursday, the trio took a ride in a public train in London as part of the bench marking tour ahead of the actualisation of the Nairobi City Railway project.


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