Treasury CS Responds to Reports He Appointed Tribesmen to Top Govt Jobs

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has steered clear of allegations that he was behind the appointment of several of his tribesmen to government positions as reported by Daily Nation on Wednesday, January 22.

This is after the publication had earlier published a list of 31 names which gave an indication of the newly appointed CS's hand in the employments.

Yatani was confirmed as the new Treasury CS by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 

"The names are available for authentication from the Public Service Commission. Some of them are no longer working while others are interns. Others were working in government before I was appointed to the cabinet," Yatani stated.

While addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday, January 21, a section of leaders from North Eastern came to Yatani's defence, arguing that the CS was subject to criticism based on his tenure as the first Marsabit governor.

They refuted claims that Yatani practiced nepotism in every office he was appointed to while sounding a warning to regional leaders, who they accused of tarnishing Yatani's name for the sake of clan politics.

"The CS is a victim of clan rivalries and is now being fought due to his insistence that all pending bills owed to the contractors by the national and county governments are paid," Roba Elema, a Marsabit businessman stated.

"It is not a secret that a section of leaders from Marsabit county were at the forefront in castigating President Uhuru Kenyatta after he nominated Yatani as Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Services,

"This time around, they want to bring him down after he was appointed to the powerful ministry of the National Treasury. This has to stop," Elema warned.

Isako Abduba, treasurer of the Marsabit Leaders Forum, urged incumbent Marsabit Governor Mohammed Ali to come forth and declare support for Yatani and distance himself from what he termed as a smear campaign against the CS.

The publication reported that from the list, the employed individuals spread across the Borana, Burji, Gabbra, Rendile, Wayu, which comprise the 14 tribes that make Marsabit County.

However, the majority are the Gabbra of which Yatani hails from, and the Borana of which Governor Ali comes from.

Elema cited the government directive to counties on payment of pending bills as the main reason for the attacks against Yatani, urging the Marsabit governor to consider the settlement of the bills, though some were incurred during Yatani's tenure as Marsabit governor.

"He thinks that by not clearing the pending bills he is punishing suppliers and contractors who supplied services during the tenure of Yatani as governor but he is only punishing his own people," Elema stated