Shock for civil servants eyeing political seats
Jeremiah Kiplang’at
A move by the electoral body to appeal a court case that had set aside the law requiring public servants seeking elective positions to resign from office six months to the polls has caught scores of high ranking government officials, including Cabinet secretaries, parastatal chiefs and envoys flat footed.
Yesterday, several government officials confided in People Daily the decision by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to enforce the requirement was likely to affect their campaign plans.
A Cabinet secretary who requested anonymity because he is prohibited from using his public offices to engage in politics said the latest development has thrown their plans in total disarray.
“I had planned to resign officially much later after putting in place my campaign team but with this new requirement, I will have to move much faster,” said the CS.
A Chief Administration Secretary (CAS), who is also seeking an elective position in the August polls also noted that he will have to go back to the drawing board following the law.
“It has come a bit too soon for me, I need to go back to the drawing board,” he said, also requesting anonymity.
Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya, who has publicly declared his interest in Trans Nzoia governor seat also appeared unaware of the requirement that he quits office next month, in line with the Elections Act.
Probably aware of the case before the court, he said he would resign by April.
“I am still around until April but I will let you know the exact date before then,” he said when asked when he plans to quit.
Natembeya, who is expected to vie on Democratic Action Party of Kenya, will lock horns with Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa of Ford Kenya and a candidate to be fronted by UDA.
Petroleum Chief Administrative Secretary John Mosonik, who is vying for Bomet governor’s seat however, confirmed that he will resign next month to go full blast on his campaigns for the seat.
Mosonik, who was addressing the press at his Uswet home in Sotik, stated IEBC had made it clear that those aspiring for various elective seats must quit their jobs by February 9th, and “I am no exception.”
He stated that he has laid down strategies that will ensure him capture the seat.
Mosonik will be squaring it out with incumbent Governor Hillary Barchok for UDA party nominations in April and the winner will face former Governor Isaac Ruto in August.
Although the Employment and Labour Relations Court had handed them temporary relief last month, the electoral body has dismissed it insisting they must resign to avoid violating the law.
Get ready
IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said they had appealed an earlier decision that suspended that section of the Act and a ruling on it was still pending.
He said they had obtained stay orders against the earlier suspension adding that the status quo remains, informing the civil servants to get ready to quit.
The new case, filed by Julius Wainaina Kariuki before the Employment court, seeks to stop the electoral agency from taking action against any civil servant who would not resign by February 9.
“The Commission has brought to the attention of the court, the subsisting orders of stay of the Court of Appeal pending determination of the appeal against the judgment of Employment and Labour Relations case in Kericho and will await the directions of the court,” said Chebukati, who revealed the initial case was lodged in 2017 but the appeal was yet to be rendered five years later.
Barring any new developments, those who have made clear their intention to seek elective positions will have to be out in less than 30 days, presenting the government a tough assignment to fill the vacancies.
The implementation of the law cuts across meaning the national and county governments, the embassies, parastatals and even learning institutions will be shorthanded once the workers leave to try their luck in politics.
The Chief of Staff in the Office of the President Nzioka Waita is expected to lead the mass exodus from the administration to vie for Machakos governor seat. He is yet to formally launch his bid but it is expected he will do so once he quits in a month.
Nzioka, who is also Head of Presidential Delivery Unit, has already mounted a number of billboards across Machakos town that point to an imminent declaration to join a growing list of aspirants keen to replace the outgoing Governor Alfred Mutua, who has served the required two terms.
From the Cabinet, the President may be faced with a crisis that might demand his immediate attention as some of its key members are salivating for some lucrative seats in the coming elections.
Cabinet Secretaries Peter Munya (Agriculture), Charles Keter (Devolution), Sicily Kariuki (Water) and Mutahi Kagwe (Health) have been strongly linked to governor’s seats in their home counties.
Munya lost the seat to political nemesis Kiraitu Murungi in the last elections but he is expected to seek to recapture it although he has been firmly mentioned he could abandon it in a bid to play a national role in the succession of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He has been mentioned as one of those likely to be the running mate of Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga.
Keter, who was recently moved to the Devolution ministry, has for long been associated with the Kericho seat that will be vacated by Prof Paul Chepkwony, also another outgoing second term governor.
He had been tight-lipped on the rumours for a longtime but recently showed indications he was preparing a bid. He was Kericho senator when he was plucked to join the Cabinet in 2016.
President headache
The Water CS is expected to vie for Nyandarua governor’s seat occupied by former Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia.
Kagwe, also a former Nyeri senator, is expected to quit to run for the county’s governorship. He lost in 2017 to Wahome Gakuru who died in a road accident barely four months after elections.
President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Kagwe the Health CS just as the country was preparing to battle the Covid-19 pandemic early in 2020. The vacancy in the health docket will particularly be significant as the county is facing a fresh wave of coronavirus infections linked to the Omicron variant.
Chief Administrative Secretaries who have declared their intention to run for governor are Gideon Mung’aro (Lands CAS, Kilifi) Patrick Ntutu (Labour, Narok), Samuel Kachapin (Education, West Pokot), Chris Obure (Transport, Kisii) and Ababu Namwamba (Foreign Affairs, Bundalangi).
Abroad, a number of embassies will be without ambassadors as they will abandon the foreign missions to present themselves for election.
Additional reporting by Felix Kirui and Noah Cheploen
