• CSs and Chief Administrative Secretaries who are planning to run for elective positions during the next polls are among those to be sacked.
• Officials to be axed will be drawn both from President Uhuru and Ruto’s wings.
Allies of Deputy President William Ruto have said they are ready for a Cabinet reshuffle by President Uhuru Kenyatta but maintained it should be impartial.
The purge in Jubilee Party has already seen allies of DP Ruto kicked out of their Parliamentary leadership positions.
It is understood that the changes will again target Ruto allies who have been engaging in politics and those who have been underperforming
Outspoken Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, a close ally of Ruto and a strong critic of Uhuru, claimed a new line-up has already been picked; and the President is only waiting to make the changes public.
"We know that they are done constituting a Cabinet reshuffle even though there is nothing going on in the ministries. I even wonder what the picked ministers will be doing with everything stuck. Anyway let them release the names. We are fine with it," Sudi said.
Uhuru is keen on assembling a team of leaders who will work to secure his legacy as his term in office comes to an end.
Some CSs and Chief Administrative Secretaries who are said to be plotting to run for elective positions during the next polls are among those to be axed.
Sources told the Star that cabinet secretaries to be axed will be drawn both from President Uhuru and Ruto’s wings.
“Up to four cabinet secretaries would face the axe in the reshuffle,” the source said.
The Orange Democratic Movement, Wiper, ANC and independence party KANU could be incorporated in the government.
Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang'ata is on record saying plans are at an advance stage to kick out underperforming government officials and those embroiled in graft.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa cautioned that competent CSs should not be touched simply because they appear to be close to Ruto.
“The Ministry of Energy has performed well and you cannot reshuffle such a CS simply because you saw him having dinner with the Deputy President,” he said.
He added, “It will be a complete lack of wisdom and the country cannot wear those lenses.”
Soi MP Caleb Kositany said he would not be surprised if the President will sack some CSs because of their political association.
“It has happened in Parliament where people were removed not because they were not performing but because of their political alignments,” he said.
He nonetheless pointed out that constituting the Cabinet is the prerogative of the President.
“If the President does not like them associating with the deputy president, he should just call them and tell them they should stop associating with the second in command,” he said.
The Kimilili MP, however, maintained that all CSs who have not delivered from the time they were appointed should be dismissed.
“Before he reshuffles the Cabinet, the President should have a session with them and each should explain to him what they have done. The CSs who will have failed should be shown the door. The current minister for Health is doing a brilliant job and we do not expect him to be moved,” he said.
Early this year, Uhuru sacked Mwangi Kiunjuri as Agriculture cabinet secretary for engaging in politics.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, also a close ally of Ruto, warned of bloody times ahead as alleged errant members in the Cabinet would likely be sacked.
Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo has said the President needs to fire the entire Cabinet and reconstitute a new one that will serve Kenyans.
He claimed that a section of the Cabinet is with the President while the other is with the Deputy President.
Odhiambo said wrangles in Jubilee have created factions that jeopardise service delivery.
“First, he (the President) needs to collapse the Cabinet, take time for self-introspection and reconstitute one that will serve the interest of the people of Kenya," he said.
Barasa further said the reorganisation of Cabinet should not have links to 2022 elections but based on performance.
(edited by o. owino)