Good morning,
In what has been seen as a payback or rather a reward to poll officials’, the recent appointment by President William Ruto has caused reactions to hawk-eyed Kenyans with some raising questions.
For instance, Ruto’s nomination of Mr James Muhati as Economic Planning Principal Secretary marked yet another addition to a growing list of past electoral officials who have landed plum state jobs.
Mr Muhati, who had been appointed by Dr Ruto’s predecessor as Huduma Kenya’s chief executive, a position that placed him at the centre of the August 2022 polls, left the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on March 25, 2020.
A day after he exited the IEBC, where he served as information technology boss, Mr Muhati was named by then President Uhuru Kenyatta to the Huduma Kenya job.
Other former poll officials who went on to land plum positions include former IEBC Secretary and Chief Executive Ezra Chiloba, who is now Director-General, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Ms Immaculate Kassait, who was last year named the Data Protection Commissioner, and Ms Anne Nderitu, the Registrar of Political Parties.
Former commissioners who have been awarded include Ms Consolata Nkatha Maina, Dr Paul Kurgat and Ms Margaret Mwachanya, all of who were in 2020 handed top diplomatic roles by then-President Kenyatta.
Also on the list is Ms Praxedes Tororey, a former director of Legal at IEBC, who is now a member of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) board.
What do you think of Dr Ruto’s and his immediate predecssor Uhuru Kenyatta decisions’ to reward former poll officials?
Meanwhile here are news stories making headlines in Opera News today;
Bigwigs dropped as Ruto, Raila present EALA favourites to Parliament
Several bigwigs allied to President William Ruto and Azimio boss Raila Odinga have been dropped from the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) list as parties submit their preferred nominees back to Parliament.
At least 20 big names who had applied to represent the country in the regional legislature did not feature among the 27 names who will be on the ballot as MPs vote on November 17.
Former Pres. Uhuru Kenyatta Forced to Intervene Jubilee’s EALA List, Removes One MP
The opposition team under the Azimio umbrella through minority leader Opiyo Wandayi submitted a list of ( 12 ) twelve individuals mostly politicos who have been fronted to take EALA seats.
As the list moves on to the next stage, insiders of the opposition camp have revealed that former president Uhuru Kenyatta was forced to intervene on the list that was submitted by Jubilee party secretary general Jeremiah Kioni to the Azimio coalition management.
The list submitted by Kioni to the leadership of Azimio had only politicos drawn from the Mount Kenya region. The party had locked out everybody else in the party outside mount Kenya from the list.
Malindi family in shock as kin’s body arrives in Kenya with missing body organs
A family in Malindi, Kilifi County, is puzzled after the body of their relative was brought back to Kenya from Italy with missing internal organs.
A postmortem conducted at the Malindi Referral Hospital mortuary revealed the body of Amani Justine Luwali was missing vital organs, including the heart, major blood vessels, kidneys, eyeballs and liver.
Ms Luwali’s elder brother, James Karisa, said she married an Italian man and the two had a daughter. The couple moved to Italy in 2016.