Cs Echesa had hinted his possible removal but the man had also planned his next move prior to his sacking.
Echesa had remained adamant all the time he was at loggerheads with opposition Chief Raila Odinga saying he would not be cowed or intimidated.
#TBT: …that time when Rashid Echesa dared Raila Odinga to sack him from Cabinet. #CabinetReshuffle pic.twitter.com/pX8wdzdL37— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) March 1, 2019
“If I am ejected from Cabinet. I am ready to come back home. This is where I belong. But I want to tell Raila Odinga that with or without that Cabinet position, the Luhya community is fed up with him. Leave us alone,” he said.
Echesa is a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto who is increasingly getting isolated.
“I want to tell my brothers Mudavadi and Wetang’ula this: If you want to be president, call all of us, and lay down your Sh200 billion for the campaigns, and the network you have in Kenya, not just jokes of hanging on to each other’s coattails,” Mr Echesa said.
Deputy President William Ruto had been in constant defense in the appointment of Rashid Echesa, reportedly a Class 7 drop-out, as the Sports Cabinet Secretary, describing it as a move by President Uhuru Kenyatta meant to inspire Kenyans of all backgrounds.
He further stated that it was a way of bringing people from different sides of the political divide together, noting that Echesa had spent a long time working with the Raila Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
“People are still asking if it is true Echesa was appointed. Others have questioned how such an unfamiliar person can be given a youthful docket but I want to assure all of you that Uhuru did not guess. Echesa is not a product of guesswork put a deliberate move.
“This proves the point that all of have can become anything they want to be as long as we work hard,” Ruto explained at Echesa’s homecoming in Mumias.
Ruto side-stepped the debate on Echesa’s academic credentials, opting to affirm that his appointment would bring Kenyans together.