- A number of lawmakers now want politicking CSs to resign in line with the 2010 Constitution of Kenya provisions which ban state officers from politics.
- Some have been attending rallies and making remarks both against or for some 2022 presidential hopefuls.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
Cabinet Secretaries among other top government officials have come under fire for engaging in partisan politics ahead of the 2022 polls.
The officials have been openly rooting for ODM leader Raila Odinga to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta.
It has also emerged that the President's camp appears to adopt the botched BBI script in marketing Raila as the best bet to succeed Uhuru.
Government top brass including cabinet secretaries, chairmen and heads of parastatals as well as governors who supported BBI have thrown their weight behind the ODM leader.
In the recent past, Raila has addressed at least three forums in public universities, a new norm that has not been seen before.
Critics say it is an open secret that state machinery has been deployed to mobilise support for Uhuru’s handshake partner.
Raila has promised that if elected, he will revive BBI.
A number of lawmakers now want politicking Cabinet secretaries to resign in line with the constitutional provisions that ban state officers from politics.
Led by Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, the lawmakers noted it was wrong to have ministers support a presidential aspirant when they are still in office.
The senator was reacting to the Friday remarks by the Interior CS Fred Matiang'i who publicly endorsed Raila.
Matiang’i was accompanied by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and his Defence counterpart Eugene Wamalwa during a fundraiser in Nyamira county.
“Matiang’i is a CS, if you want to politic then step aside and let someone do the job,” Malala said.
“All state officers campaigning for Raila we are telling them to go home.”
Apart from Matiang’i, some of the Cabinet ministers who have engaged in politics include Joe Mucheru (ICT), Keriako Tobiko (Environment), Ukur Yatani (Treasury), John Munyes (Petroleum), and Peter Munya (Agriculture).
Some have been attending rallies and making remarks both against and for some 2022 presidential hopefuls.
Nyeri county assembly speaker John Kaguchia said Raila’s “latest style of campaigning especially in Mt Kenya has the hallmarks of government's hand at play”.
“When you keenly see the organisation, mobilisation that goes into the Azimio la Umoja, the presence of quasi-government individuals, governors, provincial administration, it is clear that government machinery is at play,” Kaguchia told the Star on phone.
“The idea is to portray Raila as acceptable as possible in regions he has never enjoyed political support previously. For instance, what changed the hearts of governors from Mt Kenya East who had endorsed National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to make a u-turn and support Raila?” he posed.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa said governors, “just as it happened during the BBI campaigns, are being coerced, intimidated to take political directions that ordinarily they could not dare”.
“Some governors are buying fear that is being peddled around by state operatives that if they do not support Raila, then the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission or the Directorate of Criminal Investigations will go after them,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that the system or the so-called deep state, that has endorsed Raila as their preferred candidate, is sacrificing the political careers of the governors, especially in Mt Kenya. Those who have sided with Raila contrary to the will of the people will face the wrath of the electorates in the next general election,” he added.
Speaking to the Star on phone, the close ally of the Deputy President demanded that the Cabinet secretaries and chairmen of government organisations at the centre of Raila campaigns should resign immediately.
“We have no problem with them campaigning for Raila, but let them do so without using government offices and resources. We are aware of some ministries that are diverting their budgets for campaigns. We recently saw some parastatals in the Ministry of Agriculture sponsoring forums that ended up being political rallies,” he said.
However, Keini MP Kanini Kega, a leading light from Mt Kenya region who is rooting for Raila to succeed Uhuru, defended the top government officials.
He said there are coincidences where Raila and the CSs sometimes share podiums and they do not necessarily campaign.
“I have not seen or heard of CSs campaigning for Raila. Accompanying Raila does not amount to campaigning for him. Those making such utterances have wild imaginations. Raila has been able to climb Mt Kenya on his own,” he told the Star on phone.
He added, “We may need to change our Constitution. Ordinarily, Cabinet ministers are politicians. It is difficult to divorce government policies from politics. They go hand in hand.”
He denied claims that Raila is a state project noting that the former Prime Minister has been a faithful partner of the President through the handshake.
“Some want to brand him as a system project. It is not true. The former Prime Minister is conducting his own affairs only that this time round he now has the backing of Mt Kenya,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara