President Kenyatta on Thursday came face to face with his renegade DP William Ruto at the first full Cabinet meeting since February last year.
It was strictly protocol, strictly business.
The Deputy President should attend Cabinet meetings but none has been held, only committees and subcommittees have been meeting for more than a year.
Ruto wouldn't miss the first full Cabinet meeting.
The sitting was their first encounter for official government business since their differences spilled out into the public more than two years ago.
Uhuru last chaired a Cabinet meeting on February 18 last year, which brought together Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Administrative Secretaries and Principal Secretaries. They discussed Jubilee's Big Four agenda and the Vision 2030 flagship projects.
Ruto sat to the President's right, opposite in the middle sat Interior CS Fred Matiang'i and other CSs who have been deployed to publicly disparage the DP for his role in government or 'absconding' to campaign.
Matiang'i has been tasked with overseeing important projects, something Ruto used to do as he also campaigned for himself.
After the Cabinet meeting, Ruto quietly left for his Karen residence where he met his Kenya Kwanza team led by Musalia Mudavadi meeting small-scale traders from Lang'ata.
As has been the norm, Ruto avoided posting anything about the meeting on his official pages online.
While Ruto has never spared juniors for openly taking sides in politics and frustrating the operations of his office, the same group has never shied from trying to degrade him.
Matiang'i, who had been assigned the responsibility of chairing Cabinet committee meetings through Executive Order Number 1, was also entrusted with overseeing state projects. This had been Ruto's assignment.
A week ago, Matiang'i lashed out at Ruto for claiming he had taken his job.
“This dishonesty characterises the behaviour of those people and that is why I keep saying all the time it is laughable they are seeking public leadership, very hypocritical people who believe in lying to look for cheap and petty sympathy,” he said.
Challenging Ruto to state the job he had taken from him, Matiang'i said the President only gave him the mandate of coordinating government projects, which he had accomplished to perfection for three years.
The Cabinet meeting on Thursday, 87 days to the general election, follows an outcry by Jubilee leaders leaning toward Ruto's UDA over failure by the head of state to convene one.
It came a week after the President threw a bombshell, accusing his deputy of running away from his responsibilities in government.
“Instead of coming to help me and offer your advice, you are busy in the market abusing people and you are calling yourself a leader of a higher rank. You should have left long ago so I get some else to help me work,” Uhuru said during his address on Labour Day.
In a harsh rejoinder, Ruto said the President was to blame for giving away his duties.
“I feel your pain. Those you assigned my responsibilities and 'project' mzee [Raila Odinga] have let you down miserably,” the DP tweeted.
He added, “They bungled our Big 4, killed our party and wasted your second term. Boss, I am available, Just a phone call away. Sadly the last Cabinet was two years ago.”
In September last year, Matiang'i while appearing before a National Assembly committee, detailed the number of properties Ruto allegedly has and the number of security officers assigned to guard him.
This was after the withdrawal of the elite GSU officers from his Karen residence and replacement with those from the Administration Police Unit.
A dispatch on Thursday from State House said the Cabinet meeting was preceded by meetings on national development implementation and sessions of the national implementation and technical committee.
Among the issues were the state of the economy following the crippling effects of Covid-19, the state of food security, bills in Parliament, policies, treaties and conventions and reports on the implementation of projects.
The session ratified 27 bills, policies, regulations and other statutory instruments including universal healthcare, the Supreme Court Amendment Bill and the right-sizing of Kenya Airways.
To revitalise agriculture, especially tea and coffee, the Cabinet sanctioned a review of VAT and certificate of requirements on tea and coffee for both domestic and international markets.
(Edited by V. Graham)
WATCH: The latest videos from the Star”
