The National Assembly has approved the appointment of Geoffrey Ruku and Hanna Wendot Cheptumo as Cabinet Secretaries following the recommendations of the Committee on Appointments.
In a report released on Tuesday, April 15, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula said the nominees were found suitable for the roles after undergoing approval hearings.
“Having considered the suitability of the nominees for appointment during the approval hearings pursuant to Article 152(2) of the Constitution and sections 3 and 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, and Standing Order 204(4) of the National Assembly Standing Orders, the Committee recommends that the House approves—(1) Hon. Geoffrey K. Kiringa Ruku for appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes; and (2) Ms. Hanna Wendot Cheptumo, for appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, The Arts and Heritage,” the report read.
Following the approval, President William Ruto will formally appoint the approved nominees by issuing a gazette notice after which they will be sworn into office.
Ruku and Hanna appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments on Monday, April 14.
Read More
Hanna discussed various issues including the rising number of femicide cases in the country, arguing that it is as a result of dependency.
"Femicide is brought about by dependency. If girls were able to have economic power, they would not depend on either gender. If a woman is educated, chances are that they will avoid some of these challenges in society," she said.
Additionally, Hanna promised to negotiate more funding for her ministry and foster teamwork, should she be approved for the post.
"If this committee approves my nomination, I will negotiate for more funding for my ministry. I will foster teamwork; you can’t work alone. Mine is like an issue of marriage, it is me who is getting married there and the marriage must work," she said.
On the other hand, Ruku revealed his intention to implement a system that will monitor the time government employees spend at their workplaces.
He highlighted that he would begin by coming up with a digital system to link all government offices and include time sheets which will require employees to log in at the time they report to work.
Additionally, the system will monitor the output of the employees at work to ensure that the employees are delivering on their mandate.
"I will come up with a system in place to link all the government institutions. The time sheets are an extremely important component.
"Once you go to work, we are supposed to know what time you reported to work, your output that particular day and what time you left the work station," he stated.
