Former Devolution Cabinet Secretary (CS), Charles Keter joined the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) hours after resigning from President Uhuru Kenyatta's cabinet.
Keter, and other five Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) were received by Deputy President William Ruto at his office in Karen, Nairobi on Tuesday, February 8.
CAS Patrick Ntutu (Labour), John Mosnik (Petroleum and Mining) and Joseph Boinnet (Tourism) and the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Wildlife, Fred Segor also defected to UDA.
"Welcomed Devolution Cabinet Secretary, Labour CAS, Patrick Ntutu, Petroleum and Mining CAS Engineer John Mosonik, Wildlife Principal Secretary Fred Segor and Tourism CAS to the Hustler Nation. Karen. Growing stronger every day," DP Ruto wrote.
Keter and his Petroleum counterpart John Munyes were the first CSs to vacate office following the directive by the Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua, who instructed all government officials seeking elective seats to resign.
"I am also complying with a circular that was issued by the Head of Public Service last week dated January 28, 2022, requiring all state and public officers who are not exempted by the provisions of the Elections Act 2011, from resigning from their offices to vacate their offices," Keter stated.
"I wish to sincerely thank H.E the President for according me an opportunity to serve in his Cabinet since 2015 when he nominated me to serve in the government. With a lot of humility, I want to reiterate my appreciation for the honour bestowed on me," noted the ex-CS.
The former Inspector General of Police (IG), Boinnet, resigned from office on February 3, to contest for the Elgeyo Marakwet gubernatorial seat after serving as the tourism CAS for three years.
On February 8, the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier decision and declared that all public servants seeking elective office to resign before the timeline set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
In their ruling, the three-judge bench comprising Justices Daniel Musinga, Wanjiru Karanja, and Agnes Murgor directed government officials to vacate office by Wednesday, February 9 pursuant to Sections 43(5) and (6) of the constitution.
“Our view, therefore, is that the provisions of sections 43(5) and (6) are justifiable and reasonable and are not in contravention of any provisions of the Constitution,” the panel said while upholding the provision.
