Since assuming office exactly 100 days ago, Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki has moved fast to position himself President William Ruto’s handyman as he strives to endear his boss to Kenyans.

Kindiki, who was appointed to the position at a time when majority of Kenyans were publicly expressing loss of confidence and trust in the government due to the poor delivery of services and unfulfilled promises, hit the road running in a bid to reshape the prevailing perceptions.

From chairing Cabinet sub-committees in a bid to revitalise synergy within the government and receiving delegations at his official Karen residence, Kindiki has positioned himself as the face of a new friendlier and pro-people government.

Besides striving to reshape the government’s perception among Kenyans, sources also told the People Daily that Kindiki has now been mandated to oversee the state any government project before the President can be called upon to commission it.

This, according to insiders, is meant to save the President from the embarrassment he has been getting in instances where he has ended up launching non-existent projects or those that had previously been commissioned.

“Professor is a proper principal assistant. The anchor-man that this administration has terribly lacked in the last two years. The results are beginning to show,” Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot told People Daily.

Restoring trust

Kindki, who tomorrow marks 100 days since assuming office, has already been christened in government circles as ‘President Ruto’s foreman’ as he moves to clean up the alleged mess left him by impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who many accused of being arrogant, insensitive and tribalistic.

Kindiki has used the Karen meetings to outline government policies to senior public officers and political leaders as he attempts to restore the trust Kenyans had in Ruto in the run-up to the 2022 general election.

Insiders intimated how Kindiki, has not only been representing the President at international fora but has also been overseeing government programmes to ensure they are completed within the proper timeframe.

Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo says Kindiki has given Ruto the peace of mind that he had long needed to perform his duties and fulfil the promises he made to Kenyans.

“We also know that he has been able to perform well in terms of coordinating the Executive, reaching out to key stakeholders like MPs, governors and MCAs,” Mugo said.

The legislator noted that the DP has also started visiting many areas, not just in the Mt Kenya region, to check on development projects unlike his predecessor.

Mugo added that, unlike the previous holder of the office, Kindiki has also been communicating government business to all stakeholders as expected of him and thus able to convince Kenyans that the government is actually performing.

Several sit-ups

Kindiki, a professor of law, has also been tasked with the role of dealing with labour issues affecting teachers, health professionals, lecturers and other government employees to ensure that amicable solutions are found.

The decision to mandate Kindiki with the responsibility of marketing Ruto’s system as a pro-people’s government is said to have emanated from several meetings held between him and the Head of State.

Kindiki is also considered to have won Ruto’s trust and confidence from his past engagement with him when served as his personal lawyer during his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Professor is now the foreman of the president, you will see him doing a lot of things here and there. If you can remember very well, the president said during Kindiki’s swearing-in that he had for long been a lonely person,” a highly-placed source told the People Daily, adding that Ruto’s delivery agenda is firmly in the hands of the Kindiki. 

“He is the main guy there.”

Chepalungu MP Victor Koech, popularly known as Mandazi says Kindiki has enabled the President to communicate government policies in a better way.

“The DP has been able to communicate well and sell government agenda. He is the missing link that the president was looking for because we are seeing him seal some of the loopholes that were so glaring,” Koech noted, adding that the DP has come in at the right time to assist the president deliver on his mandate.

“If you don’t have a stable deputy you will not achieve your agenda,” he added.

The meetings at his Karen residence, where he has held consultations with leaders from Taita Taveta, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Isiolo and Kajiado, are not only developmental but also political. These are geared towards reshaping the government’s narrative and perception on the ground once the leaders return to their backyards.

Kindiki is said to use the forums to outline the government’s agenda and programmes by putting them in pole position to relay the same message to their constituents.

“Kindiki has met 250 out of 349 members, has met about 40 senators and held over 50 meetings. These meetings are not only developmental but political. The leaders you see in Karen always leave the venue well-briefed by Kindiki who has been tasked to outline government policies.”

To save the Head of State from the frequent embarrassment of launching ghost projects, or those that have been launched before, Kindiki has been tasked to first verify their state before the President moves to commission them. The DP is also tasked with following up on mega projects once launched by Ruto to ensure their implementation to completion.

The main aim of that move is to save Ruto from receiving backlash from Kenyans that some of the projects had either been launched earlier, or stall immediately he commissions them.

Cabinet Secretaries have also been tasked with the role of launching smaller projects whose implementation is later followed up by Kindiki. Once the projects have been confirmed to be fully operational, the President is then called upon to commission them.

Stalled projects

Already, Kindiki has visited Mt Kenya, Coast and at least 25 other counties where he oversaw the launch of some of the projects. In Coast Kindiki met the technical team that is working on the bottlenecks allegedly hindering the operationalisation of the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) while in Nyeri county he revealed the government had set aside Sh17 billion for the construction and completion of 12 major roads that had stalled.

Save for some of the affordable housing programmes that have been going on across the country, other infrastructural projects promised by Ruto have remained in a sorry state.

“The President will no longer launch programmes anymore. This will be the work of the CS. The DP will then follow up on this to ensure their readiness before the President is called upon to commission them. Going forward, we will be seeing a lot of inspections before the President commissions any project,” our source told People Daily.

In January, Ruto admitted that though key development programmes had stalled due to economic challenges, this year was not going to be the same as Kenyans would witness their implementation.

“Now that we have stabilised our economy, we can now engage much more robustly in the development of infrastructure. I want to tell Kenyans that Kenya is going places. We are going to change the destiny of this country,” Ruto observed during the Kerio Valley Inter-denominational prayer service in Tot, Elgeyo-Marakwet.

Kindiki is also being credited with the revival of Cabinet sub-committee meetings that had allegedly stopped during the Gachagua’s reign. Those in the know intimate that things have changed during Kindiki’s meetings where each CS is required to table their reports for discussion, before subsequently being submitted to the Cabinet for discussion and approval.

During Gachagua’s time, CSs who missed sub-committee meetings are immediately reprimanded by none other than the President himself.

“Cabinet sub-committees have now resumed. Initially the ministers snubbed them because the former DP lacked the seriousness as he was always on the phone. Now CSs have seen the importance of the meetings because some of their reports are being implemented,” our source added, noting that though the professor likes working from behind the scenes, he is a very strategic and methodical person.