From one o’clock news to PPS statement on Cabinet jobs

At the height of Moi’s infamous Kanu days, no politician or top civil servant would have taken the risk of missing the one o’clock news on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s radio.

Those five or so minutes were sometimes crucial, as it was the select time for the President to announce new appointments, and with that those who had fallen out of favour with the Big Man and his men.

Eight years into the Kibaki administration, nothing much appears to have changed in the firing and hiring of ministers or their assistants, except in the medium used to communicate such important decisions.

The statements are sent through the Presidential Press Service to newsrooms, and each will then broadcast that as breaking news and send subscribers a text message with that crucial information.

On Monday evening, PPS sent a similar statement announcing the mini reshuffle. In this reshuffle, there was a new addition to the government — Prof Margaret Kamar, who has been a temporary deputy Speaker in Parliament.

She was named an assistant minister for the Environment and Mineral Resources. But editors were at a loss.

The ministry headed by Kangema MP John Michuki has two ODM assistant ministers — Changamwe MP Ramadhan Kajembe and Jackson Kiptanui of Keiyo South. Had one of them been replaced, and if so, which one?

The statement was silent and when contacted, an official close to State House could not confirm which of the two would remain at the ministry.

Mr Kiptanui appeared to suspect he was the one to leave. “I have not been contacted by anyone. I don’t know anything but I suspect I have been sacked and Prof Kamar appointed because of regional balance and the fact that I was in the ‘No’ team,” he said soon after the news came through.

On Tuesday morning, he reported to his office at the NHIF building, and discovered that the minister and the permanent secretary were equally perplexed.

“They thought that we have been given an extra hand. Nobody had contacted the ministry about it either,” he said at Parliament Buildings later.

It was confirmation enough for the reserved former marketer that he was no longer needed at the Environment, where he was in charge of the Minerals docket, although even that was never put in writing.

But he is not alone. His colleague, former Energy assistant minister Charles Keter is yet to receive a letter to terminate his appointment.

The replacements of the two follow a pattern established during the Moi regime, where new appointees would be from the same area but with different political affiliations.