Some of Kenya’s well-known communication practitioners drawn from public relations and journalism have been shortlisted for the position of principal secretary in President William Ruto’s administration that is taking shape.
Journalism lecturer and a top communication consultant Dr Samuel Siringi has been shortlisted together with his former colleague at Nation Media Group Kipkoech Tanui who has been an editor at The Standard for close to two decades.
Dr Siringi, who cut his journalism teeth reporting education and gaining important industry contacts, has been an aide of three Education Cabinet Secretaries in a row, starting with Dr Fred Matiang’i. He also worked with Amina Mohamed after Dr Matiang’i and until recently Prof George Magoha at the Jogoo House-based ministry.
Dr Siringi is also helping the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) with communication functions. At KUCCPS, he is working closely with Dr Agnes Wahome, the chief executive, and communications manager Paul Juma, a former sub-editor with the Daily Nation.
Standard’s Tanui is the second senior most editor at Kenya’s oldest newspaper publisher. He deputises Ochieng Rapuro, a ruthless former Business Daily managing editor who also had a short stint with The EastAfrican, a regional weekly paper published by Nation Media Group.
Mr Tanui is a keen political reporter who wrote a weekly column for the Standard for many years and was known as the inimitable take-me-there reporter.
Browne Kutswa, a veteran PR man who heads the Public Service Commission (PSC) communication department also made the cut. He is the one who sent the PS shortlist statement to the newsrooms yesterday evening, saying 9,154 hopefuls applied for the positions.
From this 9000+ strong list, 477 candidates will be interviewed for the 49 positions beginning October 12. It is expected that Dr Ruto’s Caninet should be ready by November 3.
At 49, Dr Ruto’s PSs will be bigger than his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta’s team by seven departments, partly with some juggernaut ministries taking up three principal secretary positions.
The ministries that will be run by three PSs in line with Kenya Kwanza’s economic agenda are Education; Trade, Investment and Industry; Lands, Housing, and Urban Development; Roads, Transport and Public Works; and, Interior and National Coordination.
PSs, as accounting officers, are expected to play a key role in the successful running of the ministries that will be headed by technocrats and politicians as CSs.
Some of Dr Ruto’s lieutenants such as Dr Korir Sing’Oei, a legal mind who has worked with the President since his days as Deputy President, have also been shortlisted.
Principal secretary role is such a crucial and lucrative position that it is known to attract top brains and cronies of the President. This partly explains why the outgoing PSs applied for these positions in droves.
These people are include Belio Kipsang, Julius Jwan, Kevit Desai, Josephta Mukobe, Sara Ruto, Nancy Karigithu and Jerome Ochieng. Mercy Mwangangi, who was a Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health, has also made the list.
Other Health ministry top brass seeking the position are Susan Mochache, who is the outgoing PS, and Acting Director General Patrick Amoth.
Seasoned PR people, including Sylvia Mwichuli, Tabitha Mutemi, Dr Fatuma Hirsi, and Dr Wilfred Marube also made the tight shortlist, looking for a chance to head ministries and departments as accounting officers.
Ms Mwichuli is the chief executive of Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK), the communication practitioners umbrella body that is now working hard to get a legal foundation for the lobby.
Dr Marube, a former chair of the PRSK, is the CEO of Kenya Export Promotion and Brand Agency (Keproba), a position he has occupied for about two years since leaving the National Audit Office.
Ms Mutemi has been working with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), helping the agency to navigate some of the difficult terrains, especially during and after general elections in which top IEBC officials have died, giving the commission bad publicity and intense international scrutiny.
Dr Hirsi is a former PS and a seasoned PR practioner who has worked with a media house and in the banking sector, giving her the much needed corporate world finesse and public service experience, some of the qualities that may hand her the coveted position that comes with good pay and juicy perks.
On top of the basic salary, they get Sh100,000 each for entertainment and house allowances while the domestic allowance is Sh50,000, giving them a gross pay of Sh765,188.
PSs are also entitled to 24-hour State security, comprehensive medical care, VIP treatment, and top training that go with the complexity of their offices.
They sit on various boards of State agencies where they call the shots and are also paid handsomely when they attend meetings locally and outside the country.
