Five more in the hot seat as MPs quiz Cabinet secretaries nominees

Weighty issues awaiting Lands nominee Njeru 

When President William Ruto announced his Cabinet nominees, few Kenyans could put a face to the name Zachariah Njeru, picked to head Lands, Housing and Physical Planning.

If he is cleared by the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments after his appearance before it today, he will shoulder the responsibility of steering a key ministry at the centre of Dr Ruto’s vision, including the deferred dream of affordable housing.

Mr Njeru, 56, who calls himself “a real hustler”, grew up in the slums of Kivumbini in Nakuru City and will have the opportunity to demonstrate the Kenya Kwanza commitment to end the slum menace in the country. 

The big question he is likely to face is how the Kenya Kwanza government will raise and spend the proposed Sh250 billion to construct 250,000 affordable housing units per annum and grow the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000.

He is also expected to face questions on his plans on rural housing and settlement challenges, including landlessness, insecure land tenure, historical land injustices in Coast region, and encroachment of forest land.

The question of land grabbing is likely to dominate the session, as well as whether the government will implement the Ndung’u Land Report, which names prominent people, some of whom are in the Kenya Kwanza administration, among those who allegedly grabbed sections of Mau Forest and government housing units.

Ordinary Kenyans, whose lands were taken away after the 2007/2008 post-election violence, will likely also want to hear how Mr Njeru will address their plight as some have never gone back to their homes.

Murkomen’s road to prosperity for Kenya

The nomination of Onesmus Kipchumba Murkomen, two-term Elgeyo Marakwet senator, as Cabinet Secretary for Roads, Transport and Public Works sums up a successful political career that has seen him rise to the inner circles of President William Ruto’s government.

Having been kicked out of his post as Senate Majority Leader in 2020 in what President Uhuru Kenyatta’s allies said was due to his loyalty to Dr Ruto, Mr Murkomen returns to the National Assembly today to approval to head one of the most strategic ministries in the government.

As he appears before the Committee on Appointments today, Mr Murkomen will be put to task to give an elaborate plan on how to deal with all stalled projects after President Ruto on Saturday ordered that the Kenya Kwanza government will not start new projects until the previous ones are completed.

Mr Murkomen will also be asked to steer the direction of the Ruto administration on the Sh327 billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) whose debt repayment and the viability of Mombasa port are some of the key headaches in the ministry.

SGR remains a very contentious matter in the country and in the Eastern Africa region, with experts saying its viability rests with its extension to neighbouring Uganda and onwards to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

When Kenya led Uganda, Rwanda, the DRC and South Sudan to sign the SGR protocol in 2014, it was interpreted as a big breakthrough towards the region’s mega product, a component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which would make trade efficient due to effective connectivity.

But the dream was short-lived after Kenya found itself lone ranger in the implementation of the project after both Uganda and Rwanda stepped back.

Is Susan what doctor ordered for ministry?

If fate had aligned with Susan Nakhumicha Wafula’s wish, she would be serving the people of Trans Nzoia as Woman Representative in the august House.

But the coin flipped and today she will be vetted in Parliament as the Health Cabinet Secretary nominee. The Health docket was previously run by Mutahi Kagwe, who faced a myriad of challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms Wafula, whose background is in the health sector and who has worked as a pharmacist, mostly in procurement, will be taking over at a time questions have been raised on the acquisition of medical equipment and medicines.

Ms Wafula is also facing Parliament at a time the envisioned universal health coverage dream remains unimplemented.

Hard task ahead for Malonza in tourism

Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Cabinet secretary nominee Peninah Malonza was one of the four surprises in President William Ruto’s 22-member Cabinet unveiled last month. The former Kitui Deputy Governor, if approved, will be taking over from Mr Najib Balala .

Ms Malonza will have her work cut out for her as she will be charged with steering the recovery of the industry, which was battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenya is the third largest travel and tourism destination in Africa, after South Africa and Nigeria, and the tourism sector accounts for 4.4 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Eyes will be on the former senior executive with Compassion International, a non-governmental organisation, as she waves her magic wand during the recovery journey.

The country will be looking to see how she will shuffle her cards in order to boost growth and stability in the Kenyan and regional tourism sector.

It’s a baptism of fire for Tuya on climate change

If approved by the National Assembly, Environment and Forestry Cabinet secretary nominee Roselinda Soipan Tuya will become the first Maasai woman to serve in Cabinet.

Ms Tuya, a daughter of former Narok South MP Samson ole Tuya, will carry on her shoulders a ministry at the centre of President William Ruto’s climate change, afforestation, and environmental regeneration efforts.

She served as the Narok Woman Rep for two terms. Ms Tuya will be coming in when the country requires Sh6.2 trillion for the next 10 years in its initiative to combat climate change.

President Ruto has announced that the government will embark on aggressive afforestation programmes to attain internationally approved levels of forest cover. The target has been set at five billion trees in the next five years. 

With Africa hosting COP27 from November 6 to18 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Ms Tuya will come to the ministry at a time when the continent, and the world, is looking to address the harsh effects of climate change.

There is also the thorny issue of the conservation of water towers, with fears of human encroachment in key forests being at the centre of the agenda of previous environment ministers.

With rampant encroachment of the five water towers – Mau Forest Complex, Mt Kenya, the Aberdares, Cherangany Hills, and Mt Elgon – Ms Tuya is likely to be asked to explain the measures she will put in place to ensure that the menace is dealt with and is not politicised, as has been witnessed with the evictions in Mau Forest in the past.