Nairobi Governor, Mike Sonko, has appointed the current CEC Lands, Housing and Urban Planning, Charles Kerich, as "Super CEC", to coordinate and supervise all the county's projects.
Kerich, a former Radio Africa Group Editor-in-Chief, has grown in stature to become Governor Sonko’s ‘Mr Fix It’.
When Charles Korgoren Kerich was interviewed in October 2017, he was shortlisted by Governor Sonko to become the ICT and E-Government executive in his inaugural cabinet.
He did well through the vetting process by the Nairobi County Assembly Appointments Committee and a month later, he was sworn for that position.
He is the go-to county executive whenever Mr Sonko is making changes to his cabinet, having held fort at four county departments since being sworn in November 2017.
Apart from the ICT and E-Government that he was vetted for in 2017, Mr Kerich has been at the helm of Finance and Health dockets in an acting capacity.
By September 2018, he held both Lands and Health dockets, the latter in an acting capacity, following the suspension of Veska Kangogo, who was interestingly also holding the position in an acting capacity, after the suspension of Hitan Majevdia in July 2018.
Professor Herman Manyora once coined what he thought was the reason why Kerich served in all those dockets in Sonko's government.
“Either he is so competent that whenever there is need he is called upon to act or he could also be the most loyal and trusted among the county executives. Being a media person could also be a plus for him. He could be an expert in conflict and crisis management,” explained Prof Manyora.
Sonko's move comes a few months after President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Interior and Coordination CS, Fred Matiang'i, as the "Super CS" in his cabinet.
Kerich will now be the man to watch at City Hall as the county undoubtedly has numerous projects initiated by the county boss in the recent past.