President William Ruto on Tuesday, August 1, locked out some cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and parastatal heads for arriving late to the performance contracts signing event at State House, Nairobi.
While chiding the Cabinet members, President Ruto dismissed the claim by some Cabinet Secretaries that they were held up in traffic jams.
Ruto also warned that the performance contracts are not for cosmetic purposes, noting that he does not expect excuses from any member of his Cabinet.
"For those who came late, who are members of the Executive. I will be expecting a written explanation from you. The traffic claims don't add up.
"If you cannot keep time with your employer you have basically dismissed yourself," Ruto told the Cabinet Secretaries who came late for his meeting.
The Head of State was also shocked that some of his Cabinet Secretaries knew so little about their dockets, he also questioned why he knew more about their departments than them.
"People here do not want to read. If I know more than you about what is in your Ministry, then you should not be part of this. Why are you a Cabinet Secretary if you don't understand your job," Ruto wondered.
Speaking on the matter, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua noted that some of the Cabinet members had gone rogue on punctuality and foreign travels to the extent that they were intentionally disobeying presidential orders.
He explained that some Cabinet Secretaries were taking advantage of the fact that they were close to the Head of State, and riding on that as folic protection.
"This is a sad day. I don't understand why a Cabinet Secretary would arrive late for a function that is being presided over by the Head of State.
"What we have witnessed today must come to an end. It does not matter whether the President was your friend during political campaigns," Gachagua warned.
The Deputy President sounded the alarm, revealing that the President, in a previous instance got angry when he could not hold a Cabinet meeting due to absenteeism by more than seven Cabinet Secretaries.
"You do not have to honour every invitation to travel out of the country. You have yourselves to blame because you forced the President to place a cap to your foreign travels.
"Some Cabinet Secretaries even change clothes at the airport from where they immediately hop on another flight to travel to another country. Ladies and Gentlemen, we can't work like that," Gachagua warned.
