•With Sonko’s numerous reshuffles, he held at least four county departments since being sworn in.
•It was no surprise, then, that the serious no-nonsense man was appointed by Sonko as his 'super CEC' in 2019.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Charles Kerich first landed at city hall in October 2017 after he was shortlisted and then interviewed by former Governor Mike Sonko to become the ICT and E-Government executive in his inaugural cabinet.
Before the appointment, he served as Radio Africa Group Editor-in-Chief.
Kerich duly sailed through the vetting process by the Nairobi County Assembly Appointments Committee and a month later, he was sworn into the office.
In line with his position, Kerich grew in stature and became Sonko’s super CEC.
With Sonko’s numerous reshuffles, he held at least four county departments since being sworn in.
Apart from the ICT and E-Government that he was vetted for, Kerich has been at the helm of Finance and Health dockets in an acting capacity.
He also served as the Lands, Urban Renewal and Housing department executive before resigning to join the Bomet Central MP race ahead of the August 9, elections.
In February 2018, he was moved to the Lands docket, replacing Peter Njuguna who had been moved to the Agriculture in the first reshuffle.
Less than two months later, he was appointed acting Finance executive after the sacking of Danvas Makori.
He became the first Finance executive to pass the county's budget under Sonko's administration.
It was noted that Kerich’s background as a journalist gave him an edge over other executives
As a result, It was no surprise, then, that the serious no-nonsense man was appointed by Sonko as his 'super CEC 'in 2019'.
During Kerich’s tenure, it was revealed that Sh297.5 million in bursary funds were accidentally transferred into the county’s Maryland Health Donor Fund instead of the bursary fund.
Kerich said accountants erroneously picked the health donor fund account instead of the bursary account.
It was evident, however, that Sonko had complete trust in Kerich when he appeared before the Senate's Public Accounts Committee in August on his behalf, although he was turned away. Senators wanted to see the governor himself.
This time around, the governor released Kerich from Finance duties after appointing Allan Igambi to head the docket.
Following the Pumwani Maternity furore in which 11 dead babies were found hidden in a room at the facility, Kerich was appointed as acting health CEC after Vesca Kagongo was sacked over "insubordination" in the Pumwani saga.
It was under his watch— and Sonko's orders — that the Pumwani transformation took place. The hospital now has a cold room, two new delivery wards with a capacity of 100 beds, a new oxygen plant and a modern surgical unit for deliveries.
Kerich also gazetted the new health management boards to run the city’s four top hospitals — Pumwani, Mbagathi, Mama Lucy and Mutuini.
All along, he was still serving as the substantive CEC for Lands.
In March 2019, Mohammed Dagane was moved to the Health docket, relieving Kerich of the extra duties. He was moved to head Finance.
In June 2019 Kerich took charge of the transition process from Jambo Pay to the county's internally managed revenue system, despite the presence of the ICT and e-government executive.
For the second time, Kerich read the budget.
However, in September 2019 Kerich was among 16 officials that Sonko suspended following the tragedy at Precious Talent Academy that killed eight pupils.
Four months later, he was reinstated to the Lands department.
In February this year, Kerich resigned from his position and joined the growing list of civil servants who sought elective seats in the August general election.
Kerich announced his intention to vie for the Bomet Central MP seat but lost in the UDA party primaries.
Since then, he aligned himself with Sakaja pre and post-campaigns and became a valuable asset to his campaign team.