Former Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has expressed regret being left out of President William Ruto’s administration, months after she was dismissed.
Speaking in Bungoma County at the burial of Governor Kenneth Lusaka's mother on Friday, the former minister lamented struggling to cope with the reality of losing her job after serving for about one and a half years as one of the most powerful government officials in Ruto’s administration.
Nakhumicha further added that due to the uniqueness of her name, most people still identified her as the Cabinet Secretary for Health. She noted that the situation made it hard for her to freely interact with people.
The former Health CS while admitting her current situation, went ahead to request that Bishop Jackson Ole Sapit include her in his prayers since she was grappling with immense challenges after her sudden dismissal from the government.
“Bishop pray for me, you know it is not easy to have been a minister then all of a sudden you are just Nakumicha, and you know my name is unique,” Nakhumicha lamented.
“When you say Nakhumicha, that name is distinct and associate it with the Health CS position. Please continue praying for me, God has blessed me and I still expect more blessings,” she added.
The former Health CS was dismissed in July this year following the anti-government protests that rocked the country. Nakhumicha was dismissed alongside other ministers after Kenyans expressed dissatisfaction with the government.
While addressing the press at State House in Nairobi on July 1, President Ruto attributed his decision to dismiss the entire cabinet to the need to hit the restart button after charged anti-govt demonstrations. Ruto further noted that the decision was also reached after cabinet appraisal.
"Upon reflection and listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after holistic appraisal of the performance of my Cabinet and its achievements and challenges I have today in line with the powers given to me decided to dismiss with immediate effect all the CSs and AG except the PCS and CS for Foreign Affairs and the office of the DP is not affected in any way," Ruto announced.
President Ruto said he was keen on the implementation of radical programmes to deal with graft, debt, domestic resources, jobs and wastage in Government. “During this process, the operations of government will continue uninterrupted under the guidance of Principal Secretaries and other relevant officials,” he said.
During the announcement, the Head of State pledged to engage different stakeholders for the formation of a broad-based government in line with the people's demands.
A fortnight later President Ruto nominated a fresh batch of cabinet secretaries including those from the previous cabinet. The Head of State in his presser also included a section of politicians from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
