A new report has ranked Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi among President William Ruto‘s best performing Cabinet Secretaries.
The report released by Politrack Africa under the Starleaders awards on April 17, 2024, ranked Linturi as the second-best CS despite the ongoing fake fertilizer scandal that has rocked his Ministry.
According to the pollster, changes undertaken in the agriculture sector such as digitization as a key driver for growth especially in farming were attributed to Linturi’s ranking.
His Interior counterpart Kithure Kindiki topped the list while Co-operatives CS Simon Chelugui came third.
CS Rebecca Miano of Trade and investments was only lady in the top five category coming in 4th.
Other rankings
In the Principal Secretaries (PS) category, Mining PS Elijah Mwangi emerged best as his interior PS Raymond Omollo was ranked second best.
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The Ministry of Agriculture also won majorly in the category as PS Ephantus Kimotho of Irrigation turned third best in the category.
Public health and professional standards PS Mary Muthoni on her part was named as the only lady in the category, coming in at number four.
In the best performing governors’ category, Kakamega governor Fernandes Baraza emerged topped.
Narok governor Patrick Ole Ntuntu was second while Tharaka Nithi’s Muthomi Njuki was third.
Among the best Members of Parliament (MPs), Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro who is the National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee chairperson was ranked best.
Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino were second and third respectively.
Babu Owino shared the number 3 position with his Kabete counterpart James Githua Wamacukuru.
According to Politrack, the survey was done between March 11 and March 18, 2024, involving online voting and phone calls.
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The report ranking CS Linturi among the best preforming Cabinet Secretaries came at a time when the CS has been in the limelight over fake fertilizer scam.
Linturi and fake fertilizer scandal
Linturi maintained that the fertilizer in question was not fake but substandard.
In a twist of events, the government announced that it had withdrawn the license of KEL Chemicals company which is said to have supplied farmers with substandard fertilizer under government subsidy program.
CS Linturi made the announcement moments after touring the company’s premises.
“I can confirm that we have withdrawn the license of KEL Chemicals. This area is now considered a crime scene. There will be no operations until investigations on this matter are complete,” Linturi said.
Opposition leaders called for the resignation of Linturi accusing him of policy failure and negligence in handling the fertilizer issue.
