Kenya Insights

Tag: cabinet

  • Muturi Boycotts Ruto Cabinet Meeting In Kakamega

    Muturi Boycotts Ruto Cabinet Meeting In Kakamega

    Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi was conspicuously missing during the first Cabinet meeting of 2025 held at State Lodge in Kakamega on Tuesday.

    The meeting chaired by President William Ruto reached a series of resolutions, including the merger of 42 state corporations into 20 as a cost-cutting measure.

    All of Ruto’s cabinet members except Muturi were absent at the meeting.

    When asked by this writer whether there was a compelling reason for his absence, Muturi replied with a simple “Yes” without expounding.

    On January 12, Muturi appeared to have broken ranks with the government when he held a press conference at the Serena Hotel in  Nairobi and called for a national dialogue regarding alleged abduction of Kenyans and blamed the government for having a hand in it.

    The former Attorney General said he had taken the divergent stand from the government position, which has consistently denied involvement, because he was a victim after his son was abducted on June 22, 2024.

    His remarks sparked public debate and prompted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to invite him to record a statement regarding his son to help facilitate ongoing investigations.

    In his statement to the DCI, Muturi said it took the intervention of President Ruto to have his son released after hours of anxiety and fruitless attempts to have senior government officers facilitate the release of his son, who he said a friend at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) intimated to him was being held by them.

    “The President joked, asking why anyone would want to arrest a young person over the Gen Z demonstrations,” he said.

    Muturi said he requested the President to speak directly to NIS boss Noordin Haji, which he did.

    Standing outside the pavilion, I heard the President ask Noordin Haji if he was holding my son, Noordin confirmed, that indeed he was holding my son and the President instructed him to release Leslie immediately. Noordin responded that Leslie would be released within an hour,” he said.

    A number of officials in government castigated Muturi over his remarks saying they were insensitive as they touched on national security agency.

  • The Cabinet Now Has The Power To Cancel Data Collected By The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Including The Recent Census

    The Cabinet Now Has The Power To Cancel Data Collected By The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Including The Recent Census

    The countries sixth national census that took place last month on the night of 24th can be canceled by the Cabinet following changes to the law a few days before the August 24 population count. The Cabinet now has the power to cancel data collected by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

    Upon request by the Board, the Cabinet Secretary may with the approval of the Cabinet, cause any official statistical data collected, analysed and disseminated by the bureau to be cancelled, revised or adjusted after ascertaining that the data is not accurate,” states the new clause in the Statistics (Amendment) Act, 2019.

    Signed on August 14 by President Kenyatta, the amended law allows the Cabinet Secretary for Planning with the approval of the cabinet to revise, adjust or cancel the results of official data collected ranging from economic growth data and monthly inflation numbers to the census and  within fourteen days publish the official data that has been cancelled, revised or adjusted under sub-section (3), in the Gazette.

    KNBS, addressing the fears of  the implications of such a change in the law claims the law was not amended because of the census. “Amendments are normally for all statistics. This now gives the bureau a wider kind of a leeway within the legal framework so that we ensure we have accurate statistics,” KNBS director-general Zachary Mwangi said, also adding the bureau has many parameters used to ascertain the accuracy of data.

    KNBS had to reassure the public after analysts believe the timing of the law change was triggered by the anticipation of the August population census whose preliminary results will be released by the end of November.

    This new law welcomes the option to solve problems arising from numbers that get disputed. For instance, the 2009 population census results from certain zones in northern Kenya were highly suspicious prompting then Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya (now Kakamega governor) to cancel them albeit after a long push and pull.

    In a country where data on population determines the allocation of cash from the Treasury to the counties. Numbers may get inflated for this reason looking to get certain counties more funds. The law will therefore be used to verify the numbers and determine whether they are accurate when any data is collected.