Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala was criticised by a section of Kenyans after he pleaded with President-elect William Ruto to retain him in his administration.
Balala stated that he was ready to work in any capacity as President Uhuru Kenyatta retires.
"I am happy and humbled and I thank President Uhuru Kenyatta for giving me the chance to serve the nation. I welcome President Ruto and I am ready to serve in his government whenever it’s necessary,” he stated.
Notably, Balala has been in governance for more than two decades. Somehow, he has always picked the right sides which form the government after every election cycle.
His debut in public service came in the year 1998 when he was elected as the Mayor of Mombasa City Council. He would later be elected as the Member of Parliament for Mvita Constituency, a position he held until 2013.
In 2003, after the ascension of NARC to power- Balala was appointed as the Minister of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services. He held the position until 2004 when he was transferred to the Ministry for National Heritage.
After the fallout in the NARC government, Balala was part of the breakaway faction which went on to form the Orange Democratic Party. The former Mvita MP was among the members of the popular pentagon which was at the centre of Raila Odinga’s campaigns in 2007.
He, alongside William Ruto, Musalia Mudavadi, and Joseph Nyaga, spearheaded the formidable campaigns that gave then President Mwai Kibaki a run for his money.
After the disputed election in December 2007, Balala joined the Grand Coalition’s cabinet formed in 2008 as Tourism Minister.
Balala quit his ministerial role in 2012 to vie for the Mombasa senatorial seat via the Republican Council Party- which was under the Jubilee Coalition led by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto. He, nonetheless, lost to Hassan Omar who was vying on a Wiper Democratic Movement Party ticket.
He would make a comeback in the Jubilee Coalition's cabinet, this time as the first Cabinet Secretary of Mining. A reshuffle in 2015 landed him in the Ministry of Tourism again, a position he has held since then.
In the concluded election and campaign period, Balala did not pick sides in the contest between the two major candidates, William Ruto and Raila Odinga. Whilst members of the Uhuru-led administration cabinet supported Raila Odinga- Balala sat on the fence and opted to continue with his ministerial duties silently.
He was among the first members of the outgoing regime to congratulate William Ruto after the declaration of the final results by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
