ICT CS Kabogo: My appointment had nothing to do with Ruto, Uhuru meeting

William Kabogo, the new Information, Communications and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary, said on Monday he is “one hundred per cent sure” his appointment to President William Ruto’s Cabinet is not related to the latter’s December visit to former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s Gatundu home in Kiambu County.

In the December 9 meeting, Ruto visited Kenyatta for what he called discussions centred on promoting national unity and addressing tribal divisions in Kenya.

It came as a surprise to many because their relationship has been weary since Ruto served as deputy president under Kenyatta’s administration.

Then barely 10 days later, Ruto nominated Kabogo, the former Kiambu Governor, alongside Mr Kenyatta’s allies Mutahi Kagwe and Lee Kinyanjui for ministerial roles.

On Monday, Kabogo however labelled talk that his appointment was borne out of the Gatundu meeting as rumours.

“I don’t know,” the minister told Citizen TV’s Trevor Ombija in an interview, “People just make up things. Of course, it came just after the President’s visit to Ichaweri. However, I can speak for myself and not Mutahi Kagwe or Lee Kinyanjui; I am one hundred per cent sure it had nothing to do with that visit.”

Kabogo said he had not spoken with Kenyatta around the time he and Ruto met, adding that it has been “quite a while” since he and the former president last spoke.

“The only call I got the previous day was from (President Ruto), in which he said, I am looking at things and there is something I am working on. He did not say anything else. The next thing, I saw the news in the bulletin… I was very surprised,” said the CS.

Kabogo said some people tried to persuade him to reject the appointment.

“Some people told me not to accept the appointment, but this is service to the country. Service to humanity is service to God, why would I say no?” he posed.

At the same time, Kabogo dismissed criticism by a section of Kenyans who have questioned his suitability for the ICT minister role.

“I first used a computer in 1992…Kenyans just speak things. I have used computers from when we were using MS-DOS,” he said referring to the operating system the American technology company Microsoft made for personal computers between 1981 and 2000, before spelling it out in full (Microsoft Disk Operating System).

“The job is not easy but I am up to the task. I have done rounds at the ministry and seen the potential with the young people we have there; it should not be hard to get things done.”

The 63-year-old, who first entered into the political fray as an MP aspirant in 2002, said as a CS his main task is to “be a leader and understand that you need to be efficient and effective.”

“You drive policy and advise the President, so, really, I am not supposed to be a computer guru or programmer. We have them in the ministry and as a manager, my work is about putting them in the right places.”

Asked whether he is a political appointee for President Ruto to curry favour with voters, Kabogo said: “The President is looking at serving the remainder of this term and probably getting an additional mandate from Kenyans.”

“If you add value and can do the job, then it means you have a double-plus.”