Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has made his first public appearance since President William Ruto assumed office.
The outgoing CS attended Ruto's first Cabinet meeting at State House on Tuesday, September 27.
"President William Ruto is currently chairing his first Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi," State House announced.
Also in attendance was Agriculture CS, Peter Munya who previously missed an event where Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua flagged subsidised fertilisers.
DP Gachagua, CSs Najib Balala (Tourism) Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs), Eugene Wamalwa (Defence), Joe Mucheru (ICT) Ambassador Amina Mohamed (Sports), Attorney General Kihara Kariuki and Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua were present.
Matiang'i, who deactivated his social media accounts after Ruto was sworn in as president and his ICT counterpart, Joe Mucheru, had previously claimed that Ruto would be defeated in the August 9 polls.
The two alleged that Ruto's opponent, Raila Odinga, would win by garnering 60 per cent of the votes. Mucheru claimed that the data was issued by intelligence teams which undertook a popularity survey ahead of the August 9 polls.
Munya, on his end, was also one of Ruto's harshest critics. The Agriculture CS traversed Mt Kenya region campaigning for Raila. Ruto, however, after assuming power, reiterated that he will work with all leaders to revive the economy and lower the cost of living.
He also maintained that Raila and former President Uhuru Kenyatta were his competitors rather than enemies as many people perceived.
On September 2021, Ruto trimmed the powers of outgoing CSs and principal secretaries by ordering them to seek his approval prior to travelling abroad and making appointments.
The first Cabinet meeting comes amid pressure mounted on the Head of State to appoint CSs. Ruto led the CSs in prayer before discussing key issues, with the economy, insecurity and Competency-Based Curriculum taking centre stage.
