Ruto explains reason for appointing politicians as Chief Administrative Secretaries

President Ruto on Thursday, March 23, said that politicians who had served in other capacities understood how to deliver services to Kenyans.

Speaking after presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of the 50 CASs at State House, the head of state noted that though some of his appointees had lost out in the 2022 General Election, he believes in second chances.

He encouraged the new appointees that the 2022 primaries and the General Election were similar to job interviews, and that their defeat should not prevent them from serving Kenyans in other capacities.

President William Ruto chairs a meeting at State House in February 2023 Pulse Live Kenya

“I am also aware that all of us attend interviews. Sometimes you attend and succeed and sometimes you don't succeed. When you don’t succeed in one interview you bid your time and wait for the next interview,” he said.

The head of state added that he would not condemn politicians who failed in the election and would give them a chance to serve in new capacities.

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“I know some of you participated in interviews (in nominations or elections) to try and serve the people of Kenya in various capacities. You may not have been successful but you attended the interview at the Public Service Commission and you were successful and that is why you are serving.

“I refuse to condemn anybody who attended one interview and did not succeed...that if they did not succeed in one interview, they are not fit to serve in any other capacity. I think each and every one of us deserves another chance to serve the republic of Kenya,” he said.

President Ruto said he deliberately appointed some of the politicians because of their experience in politics and serving Kenyans.

President William Ruto poses with Chief Administrative Secretaries at State House Pulse Live Kenya

He reminded the new appointees that Kenyans had high expectations of the government to deliver the bottom-up transformative agenda.

Although the names of the CASs were transmitted to the National Assembly to undergo vetting, Speaker Moses Wetangula, declared that the House lacked constitutional authority to perform such a task.

The Speaker's memorandum to the President stated that the National Assembly could only vet the nominees with an express constitutional or statutory requirement.