Kathiani MP Robert Mbui has explained why it was important for Cabinet Secretary nominees to declare their net worth during vetting.
Mbui, who is a member of the House Appointments Committee that vetted the nominees, said that the major use of the information is for comparison in the future.
“The reason behind that in my considered opinion is a way of identifying how much this person is worth so that if you compare that probably five years after they have been in office. If you come in and you are only Ksh100 million then 5 years you are worth Kshs5 billion there is obviously going to be questions of how did you amass these billions in 5 years,” he said during a local TV show.
Aside from that, it was a way of informing the public about the kind of people that are set to lead the country.
“The other one is for Kenyans to know the person that is going to assume office. During campaigns, we were told this will be a government of hustlers, mama mboga, Boda Boda, the small peasant farmer. When they came to the floor I was waiting to see the net worth of mama mboga maybe Kshs200,000, 10,000. I was shocked,” Mbui said.
The total net worth of the 24 members that were nominated to William Ruto’s cabinet stands at Kshs15.25 billion.
So far, the committee unanimously rejected the appointment of Penina Malonza who was nominated as CS for Tourism and Wildlife over incompetency. Currently, Malonza’s fate lies with votes she will get from MPs when the matter is tabled in the house for discussion.
Committee members from Azimio also rejected Aisha Jumwa and Mithika Linturi who were appointed to the ministries of Public Service and Agriculture respectively.
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