Foreign Secretary Amina Mohamed was the only one among those approved by Parliament who did not take her oath of office, as she is away handing over in New York/PPS
They were sworn-in by the Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Leader of the Majority Coalition in the National Assembly Aden Duale as well as Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and other top government officials.
Foreign Secretary Amina Mohamed was the only one among those approved by Parliament who did not take her oath of office, as she is away handing over in New York.
Mohamed tweeted that she was there “to bid farewell to the UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-Moon and the UN family.”
Speaking after the swearing in ceremony, the president directed all the Cabinet Secretaries to always uphold the rule of law as well as adhere to the constitutional values of public service.
President Kenyatta said: “My government is determined to ensure that our public service embraces these values and principles in totality as laid out in our Constitution.”
“I therefore urge you all to be guided by these principles and a strong sense of personal responsibility to our country. In particular, I urge all of us to strictly uphold the spirit of collective responsibility.”
“Let us work together in the spirit of good faith, mutual trust and confidence. Let me also emphasise that I expect you all to discharge your respective mandates with integrity, courage and utmost professionalism,” he pointed out.
The Head of State said that the secretaries had no option but to work and deliver in their dockets as the people of Kenya were expectant of a transformed and efficient public service.
He said that the Cabinet Secretaries will be expected to provide the direction needed for the realisation of Kenya’s development goals and the promises in the Jubilee manifesto.
“As I pledged to Kenyans during my inauguration as the fourth President of our country, an overriding commitment of my government will be to address the problems of poor service delivery and inefficient use of public resources.”
“As Cabinet Secretaries you will be expected to provide the strategic leadership that will lead to the realisation of Vision 2030 goals as well as the pledges that we have made in the Jubilee manifesto,” he said.
President Kenyatta further directed the Cabinet Secretaries to fully support the implementation of the devolution and respect the space accorded to each level of government by the law.
He maintained that the government will continue to emphasise on performance contracting in its bid to improve the performance of ministries and State corporations.
The president warned the secretaries that maximum accountability will be required from them as well as transparency in the management of public funds and resources.
“We must set an example by strictly adhering to the law. We must also bear in mind that under my government, all oversight mechanisms, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and all other institutions responsible for enforcing the law will operate without any undue influence from the government,” he declared.
The president called on Kenyans to play their role in ensuring that public service is efficient by demanding accountability and effective service delivery.
Those sworn in were: Raychelle Omamo (Defence), Hassan Wario (Sports, Culture and Arts), Anne Waiguru (Devolution and Planning), Henry Rotich (National Treasury), Adan Mohamed (Industrialisation), Davis Chirchir (Energy and Petroleum), Felix Kosgey (Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries), Judy Wakhungu (Environment, Water and Natural Resources) and Phyllis Kandie (East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism).
Others were James Wainaina (Health), Fred Matiang’i (ICT), Michael Kamau (Transport and Infrastructure), Jacob Kaimenyi (Education), Najib Balala (Mining) and Charity Ngilu (Land, Housing and Urban Development).
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