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Disquiet and anxiety have engulfed the top echelons of President William Ruto’s government, as reports emerged about an imminent purge and reorganisation similar to that of Cabinet Secretaries last month.

As President Ruto continues to form a broad-based government, sources say that he has now set his eyes on Principal Secretaries and parastatal chiefs, some of whom he intends to replace with individuals from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

Unconfirmed reports indicate that ODM, led by Raila Odinga, is pushing for a share of at least 20 PS positions, as well as the leadership of several parastatals.

According to Prof Macharia Munene, a political analyst and lecturer at USIU-Africa, the writing is on the wall that some PSs will be sacrificed to pave the way for Odinga’s people.

“It is obvious that the purge that began with the CSs will be cascaded downwards to accommodate more of Raila’s allies. Consequently, some of the PSs and parastatal chiefs are going to be shown the door,” said Macharia.

Gachagua saved

But the history professor was quick to warn that as President Ruto creates more room to accommodate Odinga, he must also sustain strategies to contain his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

“From the the look of things now, Gachagua seems to have been saved by the Gen Z protests and is likely to continue fighting for his space,” Macharia said.

President Ruto is in a quandary – he must choose whether to fire all Principal Secretaries or only those deemed to be incompetent and ineffective while at the same time seeking to reflect the face of Kenya in his government.

Should he decide to sack all the Pss, as he did with CSs, the government would then be required to compensate them for the three years left in their five-year contracts.

It is also a delicate balancing act for the President he mulls creating room to accommodate nominees from Odinga, who is likely to reward his allies from the party’s strongholds in the Nyanza, Western, North Rift and Coast regions.

Not sitting comfortably in their positions are PSs from Nyanza and Western, such as Raymond Omollo (Interior), Alfred Ombudo K’Ombudo (Trade) and Susan Mang’eni (MSMEs), who could find themselves casualties if the President seeks to accommodate Odinga’s allies.

Jitters sparked

The rapprochement between President Ruto and Odinga is already causing jitters in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the Kenya Kwanza coalition, with some of the President’s allies accusing him of sacrificing them though they had stood with him during trying times.

Yesterday, two of Odinga’s close allies – Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma – maintained that ODM would continue pushing for the inclusion of more of its members in President Ruto’s government.

“Appointment of CSs was just the beginning of things, as more are on the way. We are waiting for more faces in government, particularly in the positions of PSs, who are the people who run the government. Time for us to be left out in the cold is over,” said Wanga.

It was the prerogative of the President, she said, to decide who to appoint to his government and ODM will not stand in the way of anybody chosen to serve the nation.

Kaluma, for his part, hinted that more appointments of Odinga’s allies to positions in government were coming, saying: “There are pointers of good things on the way anytime. It is a journey that has begun and cannot be stopped until it ends.”

Along the way, Ruto could also be confronted with interests from other political parties, especially Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper party, whose leaders may wish to have a piece of the cake from the national government after missing out onCabinet Secretary slots.

But the purge could see President Ruto merge some State departments to cut government expenditure, a move that could render several of the PSs and Parastatal chiefs jobless.

He will not only be recruiting individuals to help run his government and recover lost ground but he will also be seeking to increase his political support from the Opposition’s fortress as the 2027 elections draw near.

Amassing influence

The puzzle that the President must accurately solve is picking competent individuals to deliver services to Kenyans while amassing influence that will give him votes in his 2027 reelection bid without losing control of areas that overwhelmingly voted for the Kenya Kwanza coalition in 2022.

Unlike with Cabinet Secretaries, who are presidential appointees, if Ruto fires PSs, the Public Service Commission (PSC) will advertise the vacancies.

From the applications received, the PSC will then recommend to the President candidates for nomination and appointment before he forwards the names to the National Assembly for vetting.

Technically, the Constitution emphasises regional and ethnic diversity as well as gender balance in all government appointments, while in the case of changes in ministerial leaderships, the President is under political obligation to consult with his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua.