On Friday, Kajiado Governor, Joseph Ole Lenku narrated how President Uhuru Kenyatta made a huge mistake in appointing him as Interior CS, a job that that would haunt him in the aftermath of the deadly Westgate terrorist siege, in September 2013.
Ole Lenku a hotelier by profession, revealed that he had applied for a permanent secretary (PS) post in the Interior docket, only to be surprised by an unexpected move that shocked him.
“I applied for a PS job. I was actually interviewed and was shortlisted for the post which was forwarded to Uhuru.
“When the President called me to State House to talk to me, I knew I was being interviewed for the PS position. In an interesting turn of events, I was appointed interior CS. I think that drama is in the public,” Ole Lenku disclosed during an interview with Citizen TV.
The governor would later come under heavy criticism after he failed to steer the country through a turmoil after terrorist raided Westgate Mall in Nairobi, which left scores dead and others injured.
Ole Lenku’s appointment was later heavily criticised as many wondered why Uhuru had appointed a CS with no experience at all, to handle such a crucial docket.
The former CS himself was also heavily attacked online as people trolled him for handling the Westgate incident pathetically.
Uhuru would also later regret not handling security issues with total keenness, terming it the greatest mistake his government made in his first term at the helm of the country's leadership.
During a a past press interview, the President was asked to describe his worst regret, which he said was taking too long to reorganise security systems in the country that led to rampant insecurity.
“It took longer than it should have to do the reorganisation that we did in the security forces. I would say that we should have done that a little earlier,” he stated.
The Head of State indicated that restructuring the country's security personnel bore fruit since Kenya had seen improvement in the ability to deal with terrorism and other major crimes.
“I think that was something that ultimately once we did it and we got a new team and greater co-operation amongst the security actors that has resulted in us now seeing the kind of positive impact in terms of improved levels of security,” Uhuru explained.
Watch the video, courtesy of Citizen TV.
