With President Uhuru Kenyatta making a much awaited cabinet mini reshuffle, Ambassador Ukur Yatani will likely dominate headlines in the coming days after his appointment as acting Treasury Cabinet Secretary.
The Wednesday's appointment comes barely 24 hours after outgoing cabinet secretary Henry Rotich was arrested and charged for alleged embezzlement of Sh21 billion meant for construction of Kimwarer and Arror dams.
"In order to ensure smooth operations and continuity at the National Treasury and in line Ministries following the Court Order affecting the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning Mr Henry Rotich and the Principal Secretary for the National Treasury Dr Kamau Thugge, His Excellency the President has made the following changes to the organization of Government:
"Hon. (Amb.) Ukur Yatani Kanacho, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, assumes, in Acting Capacity the Cabinet Secretary responsibility for National Treasury and Planning," a statement from State House read.
Born in 1967, Yatani attended Kabarnet High School before proceeding to Egerton University where he graduated with a degree in Economics in 1991. He later on pursued Masters in Public Administration at New York University.
He served as a District Officer in defunct provincial administration before being elected to represent North Horr in 2006. He however lost his seat in 2007.
Ambassador Yatani was appointed as Kenya's ambassador to Austria in 2009 before being made also the country's permanent representative to United Nations, a post he held until 2012.
In 2013, he was elected as the pioneer governor of Marsabit County. He lost to Mahamud Mohamed in the hotly contested 2017 polls. During campaigns, President Uhuru Kenyatta promised to appoint the loser to cabinet.
And true to his words, Uhuru appointed Yatani as Labour Minister last year in July, ending his persistent conflicts with the incumbent governor.
His appointment to the treasury comes amid ballooning debt both internal and external, which economists have warned that is bad for the economy of the country.