Kenyan President William Ruto’s cabinet members were sworn in on Thursday, almost two months after he won the presidential election, reported The TRT World. Ruto succeeded President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has served his constitutionally mandated two five-year terms.
“You will have my support because you have no other option but to succeed. Failure is not an option, we have a country to look after,” Ruto told the new cabinet ministers at the swearing-in event in Nairobi.
The new Kenyan president promised to run an inclusive, transparent and accountable government that will work to serve the people of the country.
“We have no grey areas, we have nothing to hide. We want to serve the people of Kenya,” he said.
However, Ruto’s new cabinet did not achieve the gender parity as he had promised during the presidential election campaign, naming just seven women to the team.
The 22-member cabinet now has a tough task of controlling the increasing cost of living crisis and other economic issues in the East African country.
The list of new cabinet members include former Kenyan vice president Musalia Mudavadi who has assumed the newly-created position of prime cabinet secretary. The 62-year-old will be the most senior government minister and will report directly to the president and his deputy.
Alfred Mutua, a former governor whose party also supported Ruto, will take charge of the foreign ministry. Kithure Kindiki, a lawyer who was a part of the legal team that defended Ruto’s August election win in court, will head the interior ministry.
Kindiki also represented President Ruto at his trial at The International Criminal Court based in Hague for his alleged role in the 2007-2008 post-election violence that killed more than 1,100 people and displaced over 600,000. Former central bank governor Njuguna Ndung’u has been named as the National Treasury secretary.
