Migori Senator, Eddy Oketch, on Tuesday, March 21, called upon the National Assembly Committee on National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations to detail the role of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Oketch urged the committee to explain how the decision to include Gachagua in the Ministry, headed by Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, was reached.
"The Committee should state the specific cross-cutting issues the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs is referring to in its directive to a diplomatic mission to liaise with the Deputy President’s office," Oketch demanded.
On March 2, Gachagua was tasked to gate-keep direct engagements between international organisations and missions and government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
On the other hand, the senator further probed whether Rigathi's office would receive additional funding for the new roles.
In addition, he questioned whether any conflicts of interest may arise by involving the DP in the meetings and how they would be resolved.
"The committee should state whether diplomatic missions will be required to report back to the Ministry on the outcome of these meetings with the Deputy President’s office," the senator added.
Furthermore, he sought to know the Ministry's role in facilitating communication between the diplomatic missions and the DP's office.
Conclusively, he urged the committee to request measures put in place by the Ministry that will guarantee that the involvement of Gachagua will not impede the independence, autonomy, integrity, and impartiality of diplomatic missions in their work on cross-cutting issues.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs CS on March 2 told Kenyans.co.ke that the move to involve the DP was to improve efficiency in handling business in the country.
"Kenya has been losing a lot of opportunities due to unnecessary bureaucracy. We have many pending MOUs that could have been completed earlier but traditional bureaucracy has kept them at bay," the CS lamented.
"Requests of meetings of cross-cutting nature and that involve more than one Ministry, it is advised that such requests should be made through the office of the Deputy President for the coordination purposes," an excerpt of the ministry's statement read.
