Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article. South Mugirango Member of Parliament (MP) Sylvanus Osoro has apologised and deleted a post on X where he claimed that the six Cabinet Secretaries nominated for appointment by President William Ruto should not be subjected to fresh vetting. Osoro deleted the post and asked for forgiveness following his views on the vetting, saying he had yet to read a 2021 High Court ruling by Justice Anthony Mrima on the vetting of cabinet secretaries. Osoro had said: “The re-appointed CSs do not need to be vetted again, going by JB Muturi’s jurisprudence. They assume office forthwith. For the new ones, the public is invited to submit their reservations with evidence before the National Assembly.” He has, however, recanted the statement, saying: “I was wrong on vetting. Just finished reading Justice AC Mrima’s judgment that repudiated JB Muturi’s ruling. All CS nominees will be vetted afresh. Submit your reservations to the National Assembly. apologies for not reading before writing.” In a petition by the Katiba Institute and Okiya Omtatah in 2021, the two parties challenged former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to transition to a new term in office with Cabinet Secretaries from his previous term. “This court now finds that a CS who serves in the first term of the president must be approved by the National Assembly to continue serving in the second term of the president,” the ruling read in part. The ruling affected then-Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang’i, James Macharia, Joe Mucheru, Eugene Wamalwa, Charles Keter, Raychelle Omamo, Adan Mohamed, Sicily Kariuki, Najib Balala, and Amina Mohamed.

Muturi’s jurisprudence

In 2015, Muturi advised Parliament to only vet new CSs and Principal Secretaries after former President Uhuru Kenyatta shuffled his cabinet. In his interpretation of the law, Muturi noted that the President has the power to reorganise his cabinet and that the reassigning of a cabinet secretary to a different position does not require fresh vetting by the National Assembly. “Articles 152 and 155 allow the president to reassign the Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries, respectively. Interpretations of these provisions is that a person vetted and approved for appointment may be reassigned within the same position,” Muturi said in 2015. He added, “Any person appointed CS or PS can be reassigned without vetting if they are in the same position. They will therefore require no further approval hearings.” The decision came after then-Attorney General Githu Muigai advised Parliament against vetting reassigned Cabinet Secretaries afresh, saying the move was against the law. In 2018, then-Majority leader in Parliament Aden Duale argued that Cabinet and Principal Secretaries moved to other dockets did not require further vetting. “Serving Cabinet Secretaries have been moved to other ministries or state departments and will not require further approval of the house,” Duale said in 2018.

Retained CSs

On July 11, 2024, President William Ruto dissolved almost all of his cabinet and reinstated some of the dismissed CSs seven days later. Among those retained in the new cabinet line-up are Defence Cabinet Secretary Duale, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki, Lands CS Alice Wahome, and Environment CS Soipan Tuya. National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has clarified that all the cabinet nominees will be subjected to fresh vetting. For these and more credible stories, join our revamped Telegram and WhatsApp channels. Telegram: https://t.me/peopledailydigital WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va698juDOQIToHyu1p2z