ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo has dismissed claims that President William Ruto influences key decisions, such as appointments and dismissals of officials in departments under his docket.
Kabogo was specifically responding to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who had alleged that President Ruto instructed Kabogo to dismiss former ICT Authority CEO Stanley Kamanguya and the board, a claim Kabogo said was false.
Kabogo, who noted that he has had minimal interactions with President Ruto since his appointment, stressed that he carries out his duties in accordance with the law and only engages with the President during Cabinet meetings.
"Today, in a media briefing, I addressed a video in which former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claims that President William Ruto instructed me to dismiss the former ICT Authority CEO, Stanley Kamanguya, and the board," Kabogo said in a statement on Tuesday, July 22.
"I want to state clearly, the President has never called me regarding the daily operations of the Ministry, not even once in the six months I’ve been in office," he added.
In a video, the former Deputy President, who is currently on a two-month tour of the US, claimed that the President had ordered the ICT boss to dismiss the board after it awarded Kamanguya a three-year contract.
“Recently, there has been a CEO called Stanley. The Board of Directors met and gave him a three-year extension. Ruto got annoyed and fired all the members of that Board because they gave that man from the Mt. Kenya region a three-year contract,” the former DP said.
According to Kabogo, Gachagua’s statements were divisive and aimed at tarnishing the President’s reputation.
"There are no instructions targeting any specific community in Kenya, and, unfortunately, former Deputy President Gachagua can casually make such a divisive statement," he said.
In multiple interviews since his dismissal as Deputy Head of State in October last year, Gachagua has claimed that Cabinet Secretaries are under the control of President Ruto and are allegedly "afraid" to oppose directives he issues.
The self-styled "truthful man" claimed that he was among the few top officials who dared to oppose President Ruto's key decisions, a factor he attributed to his fallout with the President.
"In the Cabinet, I was the only one who could speak the truth. All others were afraid. When the president stared down at them, they all bowed down," Gachagua said on Sunday, November 24.
