How Kithure Kindiki has settled into his new role

After the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua, President William Ruto immediately settled on then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to be his number two.

His nomination was confirmed by the National Assembly and the next thing was to have him sworn into office to start discharging his responsibilities. This was done on November 1, 2024.

Since taking oath of office, the DP has been a busy man, and admits that the job is demanding, but he is up to the task.

When he is not chairing Cabinet Committee meetings, he is somewhere out there inspecting ongoing government projects, and when not any of the above, he is following up on the progress made in each of the counties from the county charters Kenya Kwanza signed before the 2022 general elections.

If Kindiki is not doing any of the above, he will be either out on assignment representing the President or with him, commissioning projects.

Speaking on Friday, at his Irunduni home, where he hosted over 10,000 grassroots leaders, Kindiki urged Mt Kenya East leaders to support the Kenya Kwanza administration.

He insisted that even if he was not DP, he would fully support the current administration.

“I want to urge you not to fall into the tricks of evil-minded politicians. Today, even if I was not Deputy President of Kenya, I would support the development of Kenya and this region because that is the right thing to do.”

Before he started project inspections, Kindiki had to first deal with issues raised by doctors to avert a planned strike.

On December 19, 2024, the doctors and government came to an agreement where they signed an agreement between the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors (CoG) at the Official Residence in Karen, Nairobi.

 The doctors described Kindiki as a more understanding, humble and dedicated public servant.

“We met Kithure Kindiki for less than an hour and we had a deal.... humble to a fault, dedicated, fair and hardworking public servant,” KMPDU deputy SG Dennis Miskellah said.

Our analysis reveals that January was so far the busiest for Kindiki since becoming Deputy President.

In the first week of January, the DP was in Kenanie, Machakos County where he inspected ongoing works at the Kenya Leather Industrial Park (KLIP).

The project is expected to be completed by March 31, 2025, to start operations.

On January 7, Kindiki was in Endebess, Trans Nzoia county, where he inspected Suam Point of Entry/Exit to assess progress of the works and follow up on the implementation of the Presidential Directives issued for the expeditious completion of the Kenya side of the One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP).

He then left for the Coast where he assessed progress of ongoing works at the Sh2.6 billion Shimoni Fish Port, which is also expected to be complete by the end of this month.

The day that followed, Kindiki conducted an inspection visit at the Kenyatta National Hospital, which doubled up as an assessment of the Taifa Care programme implementation.

He was accompanied by Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, among other senior state officers.

Kindiki has been vocal about the new way of government running its affairs where the President will only be launching complete projects.

His role is as DP will be to inspect and make sure projects are complete and operational. CSs will commission these projects.

January 9, the DP inspected progress in the Mukuru Affordable and Social Housing Project's phase one, which comprises of at least 13,428 units.

The following week, Kindiki was in Taita Taveta county where he presided over issuance of over 3,500 title deeds to residents of Chala Njukini and Eldoro areas.

He later on (Jan 16) inspected ongoing construction of roads, including the Sh2.4 billion Tawa- Nguluni- Itangini road in Mbooni Constituency, Makueni county as well as Nduluku and Mwaani and the 20 km Kikima- Kyambalasi Road.

On January 31, he inspected the ongoing works on upgrading to bitumen standard and performance based routine maintenance of Endarasha-Charity- Gakanga- Embaringo- Kimunyuru- Junction D447-Mweiga- Mairo roads in Kieni constituency in Nyeri County.

He also presided over the launch of the Aguthi Rural Electrification Project.

On February 1, Kindiki presided over the first Embu County Boda Boda Summit, where they also launched the Strategic Plan 2024-2027.

He would then open the Ojola Huduma Centre in Kisumu West constituency, Kisumu County on February 7, 2025.

During Kindiki’s swearing in, President William Ruto said that he had been a lone ranger in government and that he needed someone to help him as he discharged his mandate to the people of Kenya.

According to him, Kindiki, whom he nicknamed ‘Abra K’ was the right man for the job.

Ruto said that he needed Kindiki’s intelligence to help the Cabinet profile the things they are doing and that he had confidence in his abilities.

“I need your intellect to help me and to help members of our cabinet to profile the things we are doing and to speak to the things that we are doing. I have almost become a lonely voice in the executive, especially in the presidency, speaking about our projects, speaking about our programs, elaborating on what we are doing," Ruto said.

“You are eloquent, my brother. You are intelligent, my brother. I am confident that you will do that which I have missed for the last two years."

Kindiki also promised not to let the Ruto down as he took charge of his new role in government.