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Former Uhuru-era Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has been sworn in as the new Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary in President William Ruto’s administration.

Mutahi took his oath on Friday, January 17, 2025, during a ceremony at State House.

Kagwe replaces Andrew Karanja who now takes up an ambassadorial role in Brazil.

On Thursday, January 16, 2025, the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments approved Mutahi Kagwe’s nomination, and President Ruto subsequently gazetted the appointments in a notice dated the same day.

Cool CS

Speaking before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments at Parliament buildings in Nairobi on Tuesday, January 14, 2025,  Mutahi Kagwe promised to implement a fun and engaging initiative to encourage the youth to venture into agriculture if approved as CS.

He stated that his priority once approved as CS will be incorporating creative and fun methods, such as travel and technology, to make it enjoyable.

“When we say the youth want to be involved in agriculture, which part are we talking about because it is not saying just to grow crops, for example, tourism in agriculture is being involved in it. When you travel all over the world and you see yourself being taken to places where they grow all sorts of things in other nations, that’s an area that can be attractive to the youth,” Kagwe said.

“There is fintech and agri-finance, these are the areas the youth are going to be interested in, so in a nutshell, the business of agriculture has to be looked at from the point of profit and loss for us to make it worthwhile and revive it. Agriculture for the youth must be made cool, it is too ordinary it’s too boring, youth are not going to be there, the way it is structured today, it’s got to be more exciting with structuring that involves technology, new ways of doing things,” he added.

Livestock vaccination

While speaking on the mandatory vaccination of livestock, the former Health Cabinet Secretary said that he would make the vaccination drive optional.

He argued that the only way the vaccine can be administered is if farmers give direct permission.

In addition to this, Kagwe promised to engage experts and other stakeholders to create proper public awareness of the importance of the jab if approved by the House.

“On the livestock vaccine, we need to involve all relevant stakeholders with the right information. The owner of the livestock has a choice on whether their livestock should or should not be vaccinated,” he said

Kagwe’s net worth

During his vetting, Kagwe revealed that his net worth is Ksh842 million. Kagwe explained that his wealth primarily comes from various assets, including real estate and land holdings across the country.

He, however, did not provide a detailed breakdown of how these assets contribute to the overall valuation.