News

No fireworks as ministers resume regular meetings

Friday, September 11th, 2020 00:00 | By
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko. Photo/PD/Roy Lumbe

Fireworks had been anticipated in the meeting that was bringing Deputy President William Ruto and Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko face-to-face for the first time since the eruption of a war of words between the two a fortnight ago.

Tobiko has been embroiled in a fierce war of words with allies of Ruto, led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen whom the former had accused of disrespecting the President.

So enraged was Tobiko that he termed Ruto as the President’s clerk, a reference that led to a chorus of rebuttals from the DP’s allies.

And as the row between Tobiko and Murkomen peaked, Emurua Dikirr MP Jonah Ng’eno entered the fray with slurs against the First Family, remarks that have elicited outrage and even landed the MP in court.

Yesterday’s meeting came amid rising political tensions in the country, with hate speech from leaders mainly allied to Ruto who accuse unnamed forces of pushing him out.

The meeting also came at a time investigative agencies are cracking a major corruption scandal involving Covid-19 funds through the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).

But against all public expectations, sources intimated that the meeting went on smoothly without any iota of the differences that have been exhibited in public raising the impression of a falling house.

Even the two apparent enemies, Ruto and Tobiko are said to have shaken hands as they cracked jokes and laughed it out.

But unlike in previous circumstances when the DP would arrive early during such meetings and hold a closed-door meeting with the Head of State before the commencement of the Cabinet meeting, yesterday he arrived few minutes to 7am and headed straight into the conference room.

Thereafter shortly, the President is said to have entered into the conference room, and after a word of prayer, the session went onto the agenda.

“There were no sideshows as many had expected. Maybe it was because the President had a tight schedule and a 40 point agenda to tackle that there was no room for diversions.

In fact, Cabinet meetings are such serious affairs that only items on the agenda are discussed,” said one of the Cabinet Secretaries.

And at the end of the three-hour deliberations, President Kenyatta, on the one hand, left the meeting for his office, from where he headed to Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).

Ruto, on the other hand, left State house Nairobi and headed straight to Wilson airport from where he headed to Kisii where he had planned a series of public meetings.

Later in the afternoon, the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU) issued a statement detailing some of the resolutions passed among them, the establishment of a Credit Guarantee Scheme with an initial seed capital of Sh10 billion to provide credit facilities to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises among other recommendations.

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