President Kenyatta issued the new projects freeze directive in 2018 while addressing all government accounting officers, including Principal Secretaries, Parastatal Heads, Vice Chancellors of Public Universities and Chairmen of State Corporations during a meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.
However , at the time he was doing so, his deputy was launching one such project almost 400 kilometres from the capital.
The move raised questions as to whether the two leaders were reading from the same script.
Ruto has in the past acknowledged that his roaming around the country over the weekends has been under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s knowledge.
“Lakini Mheshimiwa Rais kwa ile ruhusa na amri umenipatia ambayo ulisema juzi mimi nafanya kila wikendi huko mashinani, kitongojini,Kijiini hata na huko kwenya vichororo nataka nikupatie report. Vile ulinituma inganwaje my friend Ndaragua hakusema, ile barabara ulitunituma kuanzisha pale Mathathari, Siakago, Ugweri hiyo barabara imeisha”
(“The permission and command you gave me when you said that I love going to villages and alleys [politicking] every weekend, I want to give you the report though my friend Ndaragua did not say…that the construction of the road from Mathathari to Siakago to Ugweri is now complete.” Ruto said.
However the recent appointment of CS Fred Matiangi comes at a time when Ruto has since gone quite in the tangatanga missions , raising questions even further.
Rutos’ tangatanga missions came at a standstill when leaders from the jubilee led by Murathe raised a political storm on his 2022 presidential bid.
The president’s move to appoint Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to chair the committee mandated to supervise all government projects, including the Jubilee government’s legacy-driven ‘Big Four’ agenda, has drawn mixed reaction from a cross section of leaders with some of Deputy President William Ruto allies saying it could be a move to undermine the DP.
Matiang’i will chair a key committee on the implementation of development programmes, whose membership includes all Cabinet secretaries, the Attorney General and Head of the Public Service, a mandate that a Government insider said essentially elevates him to a “prime minister or chief minister.”
The latest radically reorganised administration by the president brings Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi to the heart of the executive.
The elevation of Matiang’i with supervisory roles across government is likely to whittle down Deputy President William Ruto’s influence.
Is Ruto being shown the door