Lawmaker Ndindi Nyoro was not picked by President William Ruto to serve in his Cabinet to the detriment of his political rivals in the Kiharu constituency.
Ruto unveiled his Cabinet on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. A handful of politicians in Kiharu constituency were utterly shocked that the name of the area Member of Parliament (MP) was missing from the list of Cabinet members announced.
For politicians seeking to benefit from Nyoro’s anticipated appointment to Ruto’s Cabinet, it was not a matter of if the President had picked him but rather what docket he had been allocated.
So high were expectations of Nyoro making it into Ruto’s Cabinet that already campaigns had kicked off in Kiharu ahead of the anticipated by-election which would have been triggered automatically were he to be appointed a Cabinet Secretary (CS).
Charles Karundo was among politicians in Nyoro’s Kiharu constituency who were already releasing campaign posters as they awaited Ruto’s confirmation that the area MP had been allocated a docket in the new Cabinet.
“My dreams are still valid, it is not over until it is over. Let us wait for the naming of President and Deputy President advisors as well as personal assistants. I have been assured by State House that the government is so big and elastic that as sure as there is a God in Heaven, there will be a by-election in Kiharu and you are speaking to the next MP,” Charles Karundo was quoted as saying by Nation.
Karanja Mburu, who in 2017 and 2022 trailed Nyoro in the second position, was reportedly planning to decamp from Jubilee to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ahead of the anticipated by-election that would have been triggered by Nyoro’s appointment to the Cabinet.
By-election
Ruto nominated three sitting legislators to serve in his Cabinet triggering by-elections. The constitution requires Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) not to be holders of elective seats.
Among elected leaders who were nominated as CSs are Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, Garissa Town MP Aden Duale and Kandara MP Alice Wahome.
