Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has stated that he will continue to serve Kenyans regardless of the docket he is placed in by President William Ruto.
The CS, who has served as Trade CS for a year, was transferred to the Public Service Ministry while his place will now be taken by East Africa Community (EAC) CS Rebecca Miano in changes announced on Wednesday.
Speaking during the launch of Garissa County Aggregation and Industrial Park, he said that he had initially thought of sending his Principal Secretary to Garissa following the restructuring.
However, following a conversation with Garissa governor Nathif Jama, he made the decision to continue his duties.
"As you all know that there were Cabinet changes and the governor called me yesterday asking whether I would still come to preside over the function. I thought of sending the PS but he told me that for such a historic launch, I should be the one to attend. I made the decision to come at once," Kuria said.
"The government never sleeps and keeps on working, regardless of where we work. The Cabinet has a duty to assist the president in delivering his duties. Now, I will be in the Public Service docket, handling service delivery, and performance contracts. But even if I was given the Gender docket, I would still do it exceptionally, because all Kenyans need effective service delivery."
Kuria added that he had transformed the Trade docket after eleven months in office, citing the launch of 15 industrial parks as well as boosting local manufacturing through foreign deals.
Following the reshuffle, questions were raised on who would preside over the launch of the industrial park between Kuria and Miano.
The former CS has, however, not handed over his duties to Miano and is still at liberty to perform duties in the Trade docket.
A spot-check on Kuria's social media platform revealed that he had announced that he would preside over the launch of the industrial park at the beginning of the week.
"Caips Groundbreaking launch planning in progress. Preparations are underway for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Garissa County Aggregation and Industrial Park slated for this Thursday," read his tweet dated October 3, 2023.
"The event will be graced by Governor Nathif Jama and CS Moses Kuria."
Moses Kuria, since assuming office, has been launching industrial parks across the country to boost value addition to Kenyans and enhance productivity.
In a span of three months, he has launched 15 projects under the national-county government partnership.
Through the projects, Kuria invites both local and foreign investors to inject funds into the venture. In the current financial year, the government projects to set up 47 industrial parks across all counties at a cost of Ksh4.7 billion.
The transfer of Kuria from Trade to Public Service has been perceived as a move by President Ruto to move Kuria from a sensitive docket.
The reshuffle also comes at a time when Kuria was excluded from trade talks involving the United States, with speculations indicating that his outspoken nature tends to rub some people the wrong way.