President William Ruto, on Friday, June 9, revealed that Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba requested to be appointed to another ministry before the Cabinet names were released.
According to the Head of State, the Sports CS thought he was better placed to serve in another docket.
Ruto, while addressing delegates at the launch of the Talanta Hela Initiative, however, played cagey with details of the docket Namwamba desired.
Nonetheless, he explained to Namwamba that he was better placed in the sports ministry owing to their earlier conversations.
"When the time to appoint Cabinet came, he wanted me to appoint him to another ministry, but I declined. I told him that I knew my team better, and you (Namwamba) agree with me that I made the right choice.
"You have my support in what you are doing in this space. We have had a conversation about what you are doing in this sector," he divulged.
When Ruto was appointing his Cabinet, Namwamba had been reported to be the likely candidate for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, currently under former Machakos governor, Alfred Mutua.
The reports were based on his appointments in previous governments and his role as the head of international relations in Ruto's campaign secretariat.
On the other hand, he described the CS as a personal friend who sacrificed his job in former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to join the Kenya Kwanza campaign team.
The President opposed Ababu Namwamba's decision to resign as Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) months before the 2022 General Election.
"When I went to the elections, Namwamba was working with us at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Because he was my friend, one morning, he came and told me that he wanted to resign.
'He told me it would be very difficult for him to keep his job and support me simultaneously. I tried to persuade him but was unsuccessful," he expressed.
On his part, Namwamba expressed confidence in reforming the ministry which he stated needed revamping. He noted some of the sectors that would benefit from the newly launched initiative included the sports and music industry.
"What the Talanta Hela will do is to join the dots that have been missing. You (Ruto) instructed me to steady the ship and fix the mess. That is what I was doing," he stated.
