President Uhuru Kenyatta during a past function.[Photo/PSCU]
Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale has said that six cabinet secretaries who retained their portfolio in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s appointments on Friday will not be vetted.
The six – who include Dr.Fred Matiang’i (Interior & Ag. Education), Charles Keter (Energy), Joe Mucheru (ICT), Najib Balala (Tourism), Henry Rotich (Treasury) and James Macharia (Infrastructure).
In his partial Cabinet naming, Uhuru dropped 13 Cabinet secretaries.
Duale said that the 2011 Parliamentary Act on public appointments, and looking to other international jurisdictions like that of the US where President Obama retained defense secretary from the Bush administration, the six do not require a fresh vetting from the house.
“In 2012 when Obama was re-elected for the second term, more than five of his cabinet were reappointed and never went through a fresh vetting. In our case, because the six had undergone vetting once and are still holding the same portfolio, they will not be vetted,” he said.
“So we expect the President to send us fresh names of the likes of Munyes, Yattani and Tobiko for vetting,” added Duale.
New entrants into the cabinet are former Marsabit Governor Ukur Yatani, former Turkana County Senator John Munyes and DPP Keriako Tobiko, who has since resigned from the post.