It is whispered that the pro-DP William Ruto cabinet secretaries not comfortable with Matiang’i wars with the second in command want Kagwe to chair the powerful coordination committee currently networked by Matiang’i. They see Kagwe as a neutral face compared to the abrasive Matiang’i who is seen to have taken sides in Uhuru succession 2020 political matrix. Since Kagwe assumed office as Health CS, Matiang’i, a key pillar of Uhuru’s presidency, has been relegated to the periphery with the situation getting worse after the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic that placed the former Nyeri senator at the heart of government’s operations. So intense is the rivalry that cabinet secretaries are now worried over which camp to pledge their loyalty to as the president appears to trust both CSs in equal measure. But on one hand, Ruto’s allies are fueling the rivalry with the sole aim of cutting Matiang’i to size to neuter his role in the Uhuru succession. The plain-speaking Matiang’i had become indispensable in the president’s inner core but now finds himself playing catch-up to Kagwe, who is also emerging as the next kingpin in Central Kenya politics after Uhuru. In Central Kenya, Ruto’s allies are backing Kagwe to the hilt hoping he will not only outshine Matiang’i but also put to an end the activities of the Kieleweke group that was allegedly getting funds from the Interior ministry to fight their man.
Karanja Kibicho
With Kagwe’s entry, Interior principal secretary Karanja Kibicho finds himself playing a marginal role unlike in the past when he used to call the shots and would allegedly dole out funds to politicians fighting Ruto. Kibicho has now changed gears and is positioning himself to be the next governor of Kirinyaga on discovering that appointive positions can be a hero to zero affair. Kagwe, married to daughter of late John Michuki is now the most influential leader in Mount Kenya region and has access to the president 24/7. Coupled with this, is the rise of his wife, Wanjiku Mutahi, a financial expert and Uhuru’s adviser on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Insiders add that with the rise of Kagwe, Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru who was positioning herself as Uhuru’s heiress in Mount Kenya politics has been sent back to the drawing board, a move that has reenergised the DP’s troops to stage a decisive counterattack. Waiguru is now battling graft allegations with the Ethics and AntiCorruption Commission having kicked off investigations relating to her irregular payments of allowances and award of tenders. But on realising that Kagwe is getting the backing of the Ruto camp, certain forces opposed to the DP taking over from Uhuru have hatched a secret smear campaign against the new CS. Those out to tame Kagwe are said to be funding various court cases being filed in various courts challenging his orders as being unconstitutional.
Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru
By last week, Weekly Citizen established that just the way Raila Odinga came in defence of Matiang’i following Ruto allies attack on him, the DP team is planning to defend Kagwe to endear itself to him, and to the larger extent, Central voters where the CS has won hearts. Part of the smear campaign involves indirectly painting Kagwe as non-performer who talks too much but has little to show on the ground. The anti-Kagwe team has roped in a media group associated with Baringo senator Gideon Moi to pour cold waters on Kagwe’s achievements in the battle against the corona virus with the hope of whittling down his growing influence. Last week, a report poking holes on the CS’s achievements was carried by a local daily associated with Gideon, son of Kenya’s second president who is now in the same team with Uhuru and Raila. The report carried by the publication poured cold water on Kagwe’s achievements, stating that apart from conducting tests on the virus and issuing an array of directives, little else has been done by the government for the majority whose taxes heavily fund its operations and that the government’s response has been a series of unmet promises whose delivery date keeps being pushed with every press conference. The rivalry between Matiang’i and Kagwe first came to the public limelight when the Health CS was forced to dismiss reports that the multi-agency team handling the corona virus was working at cross purpose. This followed reports that one wing battling the corona virus was reporting to Matiang’i while the other was reporting to Kagwe.
Baringo senator Gideon Moi
Uhuru while directing the formation of a national emergency response committee on corona virus directed his office at Harambee House and that of his deputy at Harambee House Annex be used for three months by the board. Kagwe’s team which is tasked to coordinate Kenya’s preparedness, prevention and response to the epidemic comprises cabinet secretaries George Magoha (Education), Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs), James Macharia (Transport), Monica Juma (Defence) and Joe Mucheru (ICT). The government spokesman and the director of public health serve as joint secretaries. But soon after the formation of the multiagency team, Kagwe was at pains while speaking at Afya House denying there was a rift between him and the Interior CS, asserting that the agencies were working in unison and in a manner that had not worked in a long time. His response followed a query by a Ruto allied senator that forced senate speaker Ken Lusaka to ask Matiang’i and Kagwe to clarify on the irregular rounding-up of parliamentary service staff. The senator, Kericho’s Aaron Cheruiyot who while rising on a point of order had brought to the attention of the house the existence of a parallel response team to the Covid19 known as the ‘Multiagency’ based at the Office of the President, which he intimated was under the control of Matiang’i and was sabotaging the one led by Kagwe. The senator even claimed that the Director of Public Health Patrick Amoth confirmed to him that he did not know who was in charge of the team at Harambee House.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot
Days later, another Ruto ally, Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie was summoned by police over explosive messages he shared on Twitter regarding the government’s preparedness for the Covid-19 outbreak. KJ though he later admitted his posts were inaccurate, had placed the blame on Matiang’i for allegedly overseeing detention of more than 7,000 Kenyans at the Lenana School and Kinyanjui Technical Institute. But Kagwe while downplaying the alleged rift between him and Matiang’i came out with guns blazing against the legislator, describing his comments as inaccurate, illintentioned and immoral. But days later, a letter emerged online questioning Kagwe’s achievements and further accusing him of spending too much time on media briefings telling Kenyans about new cases. “You can now let Oguna or the Chief Medical Officer read them out, and then email these details to newsrooms and we shall get them on Whatsapp, Twitter etc. Plus, Kiswahili is the national language, let the message reach the masses in a language they understand,” the letter believed to have been authored by Kagwe’s detractors, stated.For Matiang’i, he has been a thorn in the flesh of the deputy president since Uhuru appointed him his Mr Fixit. The president signalled his confidence in Matiang’i by giving him sweeping powers in the cabinet when he made him chairperson of the National Development Implementation and Communication Committee.
Dagoreti south MP John Kiarie
The position, which was created courtesy of Executive Order Number One of 2019, made the Interior CS a first among equals in the cabinet. By virtue of this elevated post, he was supposed to receive and deliberate on reports from the National Development Implementation Technical Committee. He was also supposed to provide coordinated strategic communication to the public and other stakeholders on the progress of the projects. The president’s move drew mixed reactions from Ruto’s allies saying it was meant to undermine the DP, largely because some of Matiang’i’s new roles like the monitoring and evaluation of government projects were domiciled in the DP’s office during Jubilee’s first term. The president further irked Ruto when he transferred four state departments to the Interior ministry. This included the National Transport and Safety Authority, the Presidential Delivery Unit, Government Chemist, the National Crime Research Centre and the Commission of National Cohesion. The CSs later started going round the country in the company of Kieleweke allied legislators and other leaders to pour cold water on Ruto’s ambition for 2022. Matiang’i ministry, insiders add, was the funding the Building Bridges Initiative public forays which was not going down well with the deputy president.
