President William Ruto has reassigned seven Principal Secretaries (PSs) following the dismissal of Public Health PS Josephine Mburu.
In the reshuffle, Correctional Services PS Mary Muthoni was appointed the new Public Health PS.
Ether Ngero who ceded the Performance Management docket in the Prime Cabinet Secretary’s Office takes over as the principal secretary for Correctional Services.
Moreover, the president moved PS Peter Tum to Sports from the Medical Services docket which will now be manned by PS Harry Kimtai who relinquishes the Livestock docket.
Likewise, Jonathan Mueke who served as Sports PS has replaced Kimtai as the new Livestock PS. In addition, the Principal Secretary for Forestry Ephantus Kimani swapped slots with Irrigation PS Gitonga Mugambi.
The reshuffle came after the head of state fired Mburu on Monday, May 15 over corruption claims on the donor-funded National Malaria Programme.
According to the Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei, the decision to dismiss Mburu came following complaints of alleged impropriety within Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) in its management and administration of various medical programmes being undertaken by Kenya in conjunction with its development partners.
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“THE COMPLAINTS FOLLOW the regular verification of expenditure by the Global Fund with regard to the National Malaria Programme that targets millions of low-income Kenyan households within our nation’s malaria endemic regions,” Koskei, who doubles up as Ruto’s Chief of Staff stated on Monday.
Furthermore, Koskei said that the move is a confirmation of President William Ruto’s commitment to “entrenching of good governance within our national life by promoting accountability and openness in the management of public affairs.”
The Head of Public Service maintained that the government would do everything possible to ensure accountability in the country’s health sector.
“Therefore, in keeping with the Administration’s Health policy of “leaving no one behind”, the Administration will spare no effort in rebuilding the KEMSA supply chain management system so as to secure efficiency and accountability in the provision of medical supplies to all health facilities across our nation,” he said.
