Succession politics and delivery of election pledges are shaping Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta’s choice of Cabinet Secretaries and other senior government officials as lobbying and intrigues delay naming of the new team.

Parliament cleared the first hurdle on Thursday when it passed the motion to allow the names of Cabinet Secretary nominees to be sent straight to the Committee on Appointments without recalling parliament, which has taken a break until February.

While President Kenyatta has already identified four key areas his administration will be focusing on over the next five years — food security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare — as his legacy, his Deputy President William Ruto is keen on pleasing some voting blocs in the Cabinet appointments to have a head start for 2022.

Pressure

In addition, President Kenyatta is under pressure to form a Cabinet that represents the face of Kenya, with sources indicating that some politicians, who lost in political party primaries of Jubilee party and defectors lobbying for consideration.

According to the Constitution, President Kenyatta can only constitute a Cabinet of 22 while Principal Secretaries are appointed by the Public Service Commission.

Reaching out to the Coastal and Western regions, which are opposition strongholds has generated a lot of heat in the appointments as both President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have parallel camps competing for influential positions in government.

Interestingly, some of those lobbying come from the same counties, making it difficult for the president to accommodate all.

Fulfilling pre-election pledges

However, difficult choices of fulfilling his pre-election pledges and gentlemen’s agreements with political leaders to marshal support for the August 8 elections and repeat presidential election leaves President Kenyatta between a rock and hard place.

In 2013, the Cabinet positions were shared between the two main coalition partners — The National Alliance and the United Republican Party — which were later dissolved to form Jubilee Party in preparation for re-election campaigns.

President Kenyatta constituted a Cabinet dominated by technocrats, but later added politicians after it became apparent that the majority of Cabinet Secretaries could not articulate Jubilee government’s achievements.