Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i has come out to reassure his colleagues that his new role does not make him a prefect over them.
His remarks come six weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him to head a Cabinet committee on service delivery, clarifying that his new role was not meant to undermine any of his colleagues.
“This is certainly a useful mechanism to clarify, not to confuse; to coordinate, not to undermine. My new role was created to help, not to hinder; more importantly, to promote inter-ministerial coordination.
“Among the inter-ministerial matters, the coordination is required for removing difficulties, removing differences, overcoming delays, coordination in administrative action and coordination of policies,” he said.
His explanation comes in the wake of simmering tension in the Cabinet with ministers allied to the Deputy President William Ruto sulking over his elevation, which they believe was meant to undermine the second in command ahead of the 2022 elections.
He also sought to downplay ‘super minister tag’, a strategic move that is perhaps meant to reduce the tension with colleagues.
“At Cabinet level we do not have shallow insecurities because we know each one of us is uniquely qualified to do what the others can. As you saw from the President’s communique, this committee is not a one man show but rather a committee constituting almost the whole wing of the Executive,” he said.
The reality though is that his colleagues see him as being ‘first among equals’.
The Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) headed by Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita has been mandated with collecting information on all projects and feeding the information to the committee weekly.
A number of Cabinet ministers who got their seats courtesy of Dr Ruto are keen on supporting his presidential ambition with hope they will be guaranteed plum positions, again, if he wins once President Kenyatta retires.
When Dr Matiang’í was appointed, there was open defiance among his colleagues in what almost paralysed operations of the committee.
Dr Ruto even hosted his trusted allies at his Harambee Annex offices for hours to dissect the import of the development in the larger operations of government as well as what it meant for his State House bid.