By The Weekly Vision Team
Top ODM party leaders have been nominated to join President William Ruto’s cabinet. The party’s national chairman, John Mbadi, was nominated to head the Treasury, while the party’s two deputy party leaders, former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya, were nominated to head the Mining and Cooperative Ministries, respectively. National Assembly Minority Leader (ODM) Opiyo Wandayi is the Energy and Petroleum Ministry nominee.
In an address at State House, Nairobi, Wednesday, the President also announced Kipchumba Murkomen as the CS nominee for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports. Murkomen was the minister for transport in the old cabinet and has been assigned the Youth docket previously held by Ababu Namwamba.
Rebecca Miano, whom President Ruto had initially reappointed as Attorney-General nominee last week before dropping her name, has been re-assigned to the tourism docket. Former Tourism CS in the dissolved Cabinet, Alfred Mutua, also makes a comeback in the Labour and Social Protection docket.
At the same time, Justin Muturi, the former Attorney-General, has been nominated to lead the Public Service ministry, while Stella Lagat is in the Gender, Culture, Arts, and Heritage docket. Ruto said he was still working on other pending nominees and would announce them “shortly.”.
Miano’s name was omitted from the list submitted this week to the National Assembly for vetting, while Aden Duale, who was initially re-appointed to the Defence ministry he led previously, was swapped with Environment CS nominee Soipan Tuya in the new changes.
The latest nominees join Duale, Tuya, and their other counterparts President Ruto announced last Friday: Kithure Kindiki (Interior), Alice Wahome (Lands), Julius Ogamba (Education), Andrew Karanja (Agriculture), Eric Muriithi Muuga (Water), Davis Chirchir (Roads and Transport), and Margaret Ndung’u (ICT).
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has said all Cabinet nominees will undergo vetting, including those reappointed.
