President William Ruto has radically reconfigured his administration, reassigning his deputy Rigathi Gachagua new roles.
In the first Executive Order of 2023, Ruto moved to appease the Mt Kenya region by handing Gachagua powers to oversee the revival of coffee sub-sector.
The revival of the industry was at the centre of President Ruto's campaigns with Gachagua leading the charge.
The DP had railed retired President Uhuru Kenyatta for killing the sector and running down the region's economic mainstays.
However, in a deliberate move to assuage the vote-rich region, Ruto placed the burden for revamping the coffee sector on Gachagua's shoulders.
In the new role, the DP will oversee the coffee sub-sector reforms implementation, a mandate that was initially in the President's office.
At the same time, Ruto handed Gachagua the Nairobi Rivers Commission docket, putting him in charge of the government's campaigns to clean rivers in the Capital City.
Under his new roles, Gachagua will be chairing the Cabinet Committees and oversee implementation of Cabinet decisions across all Ministries and State Departments.
The president also placed the coordination of Devolution in Gachagua's office, making the DP the focal point in the coordination of the 47 counties.
Gachagua will liaise with Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices in matters that require intervention by the National Government including budgets, policy formulation and implementation of their recommendations.
He will also oversee Public Sector Reforms, co-ordinate the planning and supervise the implementation of development partners’ funded programs and projects and any other function as may be assigned by the President.
Gachagua will deputize the President in execution of the President’s functions in accordance with Article 147 of the Constitution.
