I was pushed out, Mudavadi's ex-secretary Kabatesi now says after resignation

Kibisu Kabatesi has claimed that a senior government official forced him to quit as the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi's communications boss.

Kabatesi resigned as  Secretary, Government Strategic Communication with effect from November 1 after serving for eight months. His office was under the Prime CS.

In his resignation statement released on Monday, Kabatesi said he hoped that his talents would find utility at another time in the service of "our great country".

On Tuesday, Kabatesi accused the top government official of forcing him out of office.

Kabatesi said the officer demanded that he issue an apology over a statement he authored last month protesting the redesignation of Mudavadi's office.

"I was pushed out because he demanded an apology for my October 15 statement. I chose to resign," Kabatesi told the Star.

On October 15, Kabatesi released a stinging statement that appeared to rebuke Head of Public Service Felix Koskei for allegedly purporting to designate the prime CS's office.

In Koskei's communication, which was shared with the media, Mudavadi's office was moved from the Kenya Railways Headquarters to the National Treasury Building along Harambee Avenue.

But Kabatesi said the powers to reorganise government and designate offices for state officers was a prerogative of President William Ruto. 

"Any public servant purporting to allocate Ministerial locations or portfolios is misguided to the extent that they are attempting to usurp a function that belongs to the President," Kabatesi said in his statement dated October 15. 

"Additionally, portfolio designation is the prerogative of the President and cannot be usurped by a Civil Servant. In the recent reorganisation of government, the State Department of Performance Management under which the Public Service Performance Management Unit falls was deployed to the Ministry of Public Service."

Kabatesi's statement had appeared to sharply contradict Koskei's position at a time when there were tussles over office space among some cabinet secretaries.

There are reports that Kabatesi's statement did not sit well with senior government officials who saw it as embarrassing and demeaning for Koskei's office.

Kabatesi is said to have come under pressure from government circles to quit after lecturing Koskei on the designation of government offices. 

On Monday, Kabatesi threw in the towel after days of immense pressure and called it quits from the prime CS's office. 

"I undertake to resign from the position of secretary of government strategic communication, effective November 1, 2023," said Kabatesi in his resignation letter. 

"I do this with humility that my talent will find utility at another time in the service of our great country."

Kabatesi's resignation comes months after he was appointed to the docket in March, which was a newly created position. 

He was tasked to supervise government strategic communication of policy, its articulation and dissemination in his new patch at the presidency while overseeing and guiding strategic communication across government ministries, state departments and agencies.

Kabatesi also took charge of strategic communication capacity building for MDAs through the development of training, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of strategic communication practice within government.

A long-serving aide of Mudavadi alternatively served as his director for communications, private secretary and spokesman.

Kabatesi has been a Presidential Director of Communication in three campaigns—in 2007 for Raila Odinga, in 2013 for Musalia Mudavadi and in 2017 for The NASA Coalition.

He is a renowned public intellectual and media practitioner with more than 40 years of experience.

He has vast experience in media convergence having served as a TV producer, public relations officer, writer, editor, media trainer and publicist.

Kabatesi has also served as a Research Fellow/Publications Editor at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi for 28 years.

He had editorial responsibility for policy research briefs, teaching material, training papers and manuals, and development of strategic research dissemination; as well as a lecturer in Public Relations.