•The move by the President to create a Cooperative and SME ministry has been lauded as a step in the right direction by stakeholders in the sector.
•Secretary to the Cabinet nominee Mercy Wanjau is set to replace Joseph Kinyua who has worked in an acting capacity since 2015 after Francis Kimemia resigned.
Image: File
The National Assembly will conclude the vetting of President William Ruto Cabinet Secretary nominees on Saturday in an exercise that started on Monday.
Ruto allies Simon Chelugui (Labour Cabinet Secretary), former Kwale governor Salim Mvurya and former Kericho Women Rep Florence Bore and former Acting Communications Authority of Kenya Director-General Mercy Wanjau will be in the last batch.
Simon Chelugui (Cooperatives and SMEs)
Cooperatives and SMEs Cabinet Secretary nominee Simon Chelugui will head a ministry that is making a comeback after it was reduced to a State department in last regime.
Chelugui is the only member of the Uhuru Kenyatta Cabinet who has been retained by President William Ruto.
He will now be in charge of a movement with more than 13 million members in more than 22,000 co-operative societies.
Ruto has maintained that cooperative movements are vehicles of empowerment, which enable members to grow savings and take out loans to enhance their businesses.
He says they advance members' welfare, foster self-reliance and support the government's development agenda.
The move by the President to create a Cooperative and SME ministry has been lauded as a step in the right direction by stakeholders in the sector.
According to government data, the Cooperative sector commands an asset base of more than Sh1.3 trillion with more than 14 million members. Saccos now have over 550 Front Office Services Activities (FOSA) outlets.
The first Minister for Co-operatives was the late Ronald Ngala during President Jomo Kenyatta’s administration. The ministry was created in 1966 but lumped together with social services.
A wide range of challenges await Chelugui if he is cleared to take up the job.
Chelugui will face non-remittances of Sacco dues, especially from country governments, state agencies, and public universities and even corporate organisations.
Salim Mvurya (Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs)
Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet nominee Salim Mvurya will lead a sector that has remained unexplored and under-exploited.
This has largely been attributed to the lack of geological data and limited mineral exploration.
Because of its great potential to contribute to achieving high economic growth rates, the mining and mineral resources sector has been included as a priority sector under the economic pillar of Kenya Vision 2030.
Kenya is rich in mineral resources with known deposits of soda ash, fluorspar, titanium, gold, coal, manganese, iron ore, gypsum, diatomite, chromite, limestone and silica sand.
The country is also believed to be potentially rich in rare earth minerals.
Increased mineral exploration under the leadership of Mvurya is expected to lead to new mineral discoveries.
Inadequate expertise, underdevelopment of the mineral processing industry, lack of appropriate technology and high energy costs have been cited as contributors to the low level of value addition to Kenya’s minerals.
The sector is also said not to have proper strategies for marketing, promotion and value addition to minerals.
Most of the country’s minerals are exported in raw form.
Further, stakeholders have been calling for the enactment of legislation that will propel the sector to greater heights.
The legal provisions and regulations for the mining sector are mainly based on the Mining Act Cap 306 enacted in 1940.
Also, mineral exploration has traditionally been funded by development partners and private investors, with the government playing a limited role.
This has resulted in calls to have the sector promote the acquisition of comprehensive geological data, develop modern infrastructure, and attract and retain high-level technical expertise.
Florence Bore (Labour and Social Protection)
Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary nominee Florence Bore is expected to find and implement solutions to the huge population of elderly Kenyans living in abject poverty.
Also, 26 per cent of children under five years of age (1.5 million children) are chronically malnourished and about 4.6 per cent of Kenyans experience some form of disability.
Kenya has about 1.8 million people over 65 years of age, who represent 3.8 per cent of the total population.
About 68 per cent of older people are between the age of 65 and 75. “This population continues to grapple with lack of income, security, inadequate health services, lack of employment and a deteriorating environment,” the Kenya Kwanza manifesto says.
Ruto has committed to achieving 100 per cent NHIF coverage for senior citizens within three years in office, and revamp the cash transfer programmes for elderly and vulnerable households.
He has also pledged to invest in education and training for caregivers and medical staff to fill the gap in skills in the provision of specialised care for older people.
Kenya Kwanza has further pledged to establish a universal social security system, encompassing pension, occupational hazard and unemployment insurance.
It argues that the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) payroll deduction system is not diverse enough in an economy where 85 per cent of workforce is not on formal payrolls.
In Kenya, 26 per cent of children under five years of age (1.5 million children) are chronically malnourished.
In Kenya, 13 million children are in need of assistance, of whom 7.5 per cent are currently receiving it. It however leaves more than 12 million children in need of some form of assistance.
Ruto estimates that Kenya needs to spend at least Sh554 billion every year to be at par with other lower middle-income countries which spend up to 1.7 per cent of their GDP on social protection.
Mercy Wanjau (Secretary to the Cabinet)
Secretary to the Cabinet nominee Mercy Wanjau is set to replace Joseph Kinyua who has worked in an acting capacity since 2015 after Francis Kimemia resigned.
The former Acting Communications Authority of Kenya Director-General will be responsible for the Cabinet Office.
She will be responsible, subject to the directions of the Cabinet, for arranging the business and keeping the minutes of the Cabinet.
She will also convey the decisions of the Cabinet to the appropriate persons or authorities, and have other functions as directed by the Cabinet.
A lawyer, Wanjau worked at CA for over 20 years.
She also served as CA assistant director, Regulatory and Governance between 2002 and 2017. She was then promoted to director, Legal Services.