The government on Wednesday, October 2, made clear it was taking the Likoni Ferry accident seriously if the appointment of former Minister Nicholas Biwott's daughter's appointment to oversee the retrieval of the two bodies is anything to go by.
According to a report by Daily Nation, Transport CS, James Macharia selected his PS, Esther Koimet, to take charge of the exercise.
This comes amidst an uproar from the family of the deceased woman, Mariam Kigenda, and her daughter, Amanda Mutheu, accusing the state of sluggishness in the retrieval exercise.
So slow was the process that, on Tuesday, October 1, the kin parted with Ksh100,000 to a private company identified as the Kenya Rescue Divers to take over from where, they stated, the government had failed.
The appointment comes hours after Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, the vice-chair of the Transport, Public Works and Housing Committee of the National Assembly, told KTN that Transport CS James Macharia had been summoned by the committee over the tragedy.
"So we have summoned today the cabinet secretary for transport on Thursday, the day after tomorrow, to appear before the committee and hopefully answer questions about this preparedness," stated Kuria.
The family arrived at the decision to use their own resources after the government suspended the retrieval efforts for the third time with a promise to resume on Wednesday, September 2, morning.
The PS was appointed to the position she currently holds in July 2018 by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Koimet has served in public service for more than 25 years since obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, both from the University of Nairobi.
Earlier in 2019, speculations were rife that Uhuru was seriously considering Koimet for the Treasury CS docket to replace former CS Henry Rotich who is facing corruption charges regarding Arror and Kimwarer dams.
