CS Linturi's ordeal triggers panic in Ruto’s Cabinet

Anxiety is palpable in President William Ruto’s Cabinet in the wake of a  twin onslaught against Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi over fake fertiliser.

Linturi was taken through a tough and emotionally draining impeachment trial in Parliament, becoming the first in the 21-member Cabinet to go through baptism by fire.

Besides the ouster bid, he also faces a separate probe by the DCI over the distribution of the fake fertiliser by the National Cereal and Produce Board, a parastatal under his ministry.

Already, NCPB top management, led by CEO Joseph Kimote, has been arrested and arraigned for procurement and distribution of fake fertiliser.

The Senate and National Assembly Agriculture committees are conducting parallel investigations into the saga, which could complicate matters for Linturi.

“Individuals linked to the scam will be prosecuted,” Senate Agriculture Committee chairman James Murango (UDA) said.

President Ruto has maintained a studious silence on the Linturi matter. 

Analysts say it is a coded message from Ruto that graft suspects will have to carry their own cross. 

“The President has been very clear. He has warned his officers about how they behave and their competency. It is a warning to other CSs to be careful and always be aboveboard in their work,” political commentator Mark Bichachi said.

It was widely expected that Ruto and his troops would scuttle the impeachment without allowing it to go the full hog. 

Linturi hails from Mt Kenya East, a vote-rich region that voted almost to a man for President Ruto.

“What Linturi is being accused of is too bad that the President may not want to defend him in public,” University don Herman Manyora said.

Last month, the President said there will be no sacred cows in the probe into the matter that borders on economic sabotage, perhaps explaining his loud silence on the matter.

“Nobody will escape. Be they civil servants or businesspeople trading in the commodity, we will deal with them because we want the fertiliser to help us address food security in the country,” Ruto said in Nyeri last month.

Linturi’s impeachment motion was cleared by National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula, a close Ruto ally who had all the powers to frustrate or sit on the motion to spare the CS.

In the past, Ruto has come to the defence of his officers against attacks by the opposition and public criticism.

In January last year, the President publicly defended Public Service CS Moses Kuria after he ran into trouble with the public for attacking the media over an exposé.

“We must defend the rights of people like Moses Kuria to speak their mind the same way we are defending the media to say all the things they want, including the wrong ones,” Ruto had said.

Linturi is the first CS since the promulgation of the Constitution to undergo the impeachment process.

Previous attempts to impeach CSs, including Ruto when he was the Deputy President, flopped as they never reached the floor of the House.

Impeachment is the most severe punishment for a public officer in the Constitution. An impeached officer is permanently barred from holding a public office.

The development came at a time word has been going round of a looming Cabinet reshuffle that could see some CSs dropped.

An impeachment bid against Health CS Susan Nakhumicha is pending in Parliament over the doctors strike that led to the suffering of many Kenyans.

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has been collecting signatures to impeach the CS on allegations of incompetence and gross violation of the Constitution.

Ruto’s latest loud silence also came at a time some CSs have been involved in gross blunders, including diplomatic gaffes, that have exposed the government.

CSs Kuria, Nakhumicha, Linturi and Aisha Jumwa (Gender) are among those that have been involved in controversy.

In April last year, Linturi got Kenyans talking after announcing the country had contracted Zambian farmers to produce maize for local consumption.

The claim was rebuffed by Zambian authorities, who denied knowledge of such an arrangement.

Nakhumicha also stunned Kenyans when she purported to order the transfer of Matisi OCS in Trans Nzoia in July this year.

Despite having no constitutional mandate to occasion such a move, the CS insisted that being a representative of the President, she has powers to transfer the OCS.

"In the government we serve, we are doing something called one-government approach," Nakhumicha said in Kitale during a burial.

"It does not require the presence of [Interior CS Kithure Kindiki] to transfer the OCS in this area."

The remarks came months after she said medical interns are well-paid compared to government-hired practitioners-an untrue position.

In July last year, CS Jumwa, upon assuming office, announced a salary increment for all public servants within 100 days.

She later made a U-turn, citing tough economic times.

In November 2022, CS Kuria while defending GMO food, said Kenyans live in a country where they face death daily.

"Being in this country, you are a candidate for death and because many things are competing with death in this country, there is nothing wrong with adding GMOs to that list," he said.

The security sector has also not been left behind after police boss Japhet Koome accused anti-tax demonstrators of hiring bodies from morgues.

Speaking in August last year at the height of opposition-led protests, Koome claimed politicians hired bodies from the mortuary and claimed they were of people killed during the protests.

Speaking during the signing of Ministerial Performance Contracts at State House last year, Ruto exposed 'clueless' CSs and PSs.

The President said some of the officers have scanty information about what was happening in their respective departments and ministries.

“I call many PSs and ask them what is going on here and they have no clue and this is your department, that is the job that you have," he said.

"You are not a messenger, you are not a security person, you are not a photographer, you are not a watchman.”