President Uhuru Kenyatta's nominees to cabinet are now under the scrutiny of the country's top security bodies, State House sources have confirmed.
The first stage of vetting involves a thorough background check and is said to have kicked off earlier in the week when the President and his deputy William Ruto shortlisted 30 candidates.
The Standard reports that five current Cabinet Secretaries have been left out in the new list of prospective heads of various ministries.
"The first list of 43 people had all the cabinet secretaries. Then another list of 30 was drawn up (on Monday). The second one has some names missing," a Jubilee party official who declined to be named told the newspaper.
[caption caption="File image of President Kenyatta, DP Ruto and Devolution CS Mwangi Kiunjuri"]
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Reports further indicate that the President and his deputy have agreed to have a larger executive of 22 cabinet secretaries - 12 politicians and 10 technocrats.
President Kenyatta is said to be the only one with details of the final 22, however, it is unclear why the five serving secretaries have been left out.
"The Cabinet is a closely guarded secret. There are no leaks. There are no open discussions that will confirm the fate of the current or the new people," the Jubilee official conveyed.
President Kenyatta's New Year's message assured the country that his new cabinet would be unveiled in a matter of weeks.
"In the next few weeks, I will unveil the men and women to whom I will entrust delivery of the Big Four, and other programmes that will transform this country.
"I will expect these men and women to serve Kenyans without partiality and with the very highest standard of integrity and efficiency. They must prove themselves worthy of the trust Kenyans will have bestowed on them," the President stated.
[caption caption="President Kenyatta and DP Ruto during a past Cabinet meeting"]
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