The performance of some of the recently appointed Cabinet secretaries is expected to be raised during today's Cabinet meeting.
Concerns have been raised by some of the advisors to the presidency that the manner in which Cabinet secretaries handled the teachers strike and the devolution wrangles had presented the presidency in a bad light and given the impression that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto were opposed to devolution.
"There is genuine concern that the Cabinet Secretaries can easily mislead the President and the Deputy President by making some poorly informed decisions leading to the sort of public outcry that we have witnessed," one of the advisors knowledgeable about the situation said.
Some Jubilee MPs are also said to have asked Uhuru and Ruto to prevail on the Cabinet Secretaries to desist from making public utterances without considering the impact they may have on the public.
They cited the recent dissolution of the committee organizing the Jubilee celebration headed by Mutea Iringo as just one of the examples where the presidency has been exposed to public discontent.
The committee established by Iringo had proposed spend Sh2.5 billion on the celebrations to be marked over two days. The costs included among others sitting allowances of more than Sh30 million, a statue of retired President Kibaki estimated to cost Sh50 million among other extravagancies.
The announcement of the fete budget was made at a time when negotiations to have the striking teachers return to work had deadlocked over their demands that they be paid allowances that have been outstanding for nearly two decades.
Uhuru had to personally intervene to diffuse the tensions between the county and national governments over the revenue allocation while Ruto was responsible for bring to an end the teachers strike.
Last week, MPs saved the national government from another storm after they rejected an attempt by the Cabinet Secretaries to deny county governments some Sh27 billion earmarked for county roads and rural electrification.
Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich provoked the controversy when he asked the MPs to review the County Allocation of Revenue Act after it had been passed by the Senate.
"When we made the budget, we transferred the functions of the counties and they are part of the Sh210 billion allocated to the counties. The House can revert the funds back to the national government," Rotich said.
Present during a meeting of the committee of the whole House were Devolution and Planning Secretary Anne Waiguru , Transport Secretary Michael Kamau and Energy Secretary Davis Chirchir.
However, Members of the the National Assembly declined and accused Cabinet Secretaries of frustrating devolution and attempting to pass the blame on Parliament.They asked the Secretaries to take responsibilities for any incompetencies and to ensure that devolution is realised.
The MPs singled out the National Treasury, Devolution and Planning and Transport and Infrastructure secretaries for failing to follow the law in transferring devolution funds to the counties. The Transitional Authority boss Kinuthia Wamwangi also faced similar criticism.
"You cannot load your failures on us and expect us to clear your incompetence. That is not our job and we will not do it," Nairobi Woman Representative Rachel Shebesh told the Cabinet Secretaries.
The MPs said the laws governing the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Rural Electrification Authority were intact, making it illegal to devolve the funds before repealing them first.
The Jubilee advisors are also concerned about contradictory statements from within the government circles which were mostly attributed to the Cabinet Secretaries.
"You saw how Kazungu (Kambi) and (Jacob) Kaimenyi have antagonised the teachers and matters relating to the salaries were only solved when the President and Deputy President intervened. We think this is unacceptable and even if we do not want the bosses to micro-manage the ministries, they have to be in control," a source within government circles said.
Similar contradictions were recorded in the National Assembly last week with Wamwangi denying assertions by Rotich that money for roads had been devolved saying that the functions of the various agencies concerned with roads will continue as before.
"We are not here to go around in circles. What do you mean by "defer" and what is the framework of implementing the functions now that you are talking of delays? Rotich told us this morning that the monies have been devolved," said Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi during the meeting.
"Kinuthia Wamwangi tells the president, the governors and the MPs what they want to hear and not what the constitution says because it is clear that transition has to be done within three years according to the constitution," Majority leader Aden Dualle said.
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