President William Ruto on Wednesday made public his final list of nominees for the positions of Cabinet nominees.
The nomination comes weeks after Ruto sacked his entire cabinet save from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The latest list includes;
National Treasury – John Mbadi
Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports – Kipchumba Murkomen
Cooperatives and MSME Development- Wycliffe Oparanya
Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage – Stella Langa’t
Tourism and Wildlife – Rebecca Miano
Energy and Petroleum – Opiyo Wandayi
Public Service – Justin Muturi
Investments, Trade and Industry – Salim Mvurya
Labour and Social Protection – Alfred Mutua
Mining and Blue Economy – Hassan Joho
Ruto, however, did not name Attorney General and East African Community and ASAL nominees.
Ruto had on Friday last week named the first batch of the nominees including the Attorney General nominee.
Ministry of the Interior and National Administration – Kithure Kindiki
Ministry of Health – Debra Mulongo Barasa
Ministry of Defence- Aden Duale
Ministry of Roads and Transport – Davis Chirchir
Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry – Soipan Tuya
Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation – Eric Muga
Ministry of Education- Julius Migosi
Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development – Alice Wahome
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development- Dr Andrew Karanja
Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy- Dr Margaret Ndungu
Ruto nominated Miano as the Attorney General before she was renominated to tourism docket.
On Tuesday, however, Ruto made adjustments moving Duale to the Environment Docket and Tuya to the Defence ministry.
Ruto did not submit Miano’s name as Attorney General nominee for vetting.
On July 11, Ruto dissolved his Cabinet, sending home all Cabinet Secretaries and Attorney General.
He said then the affairs of the Ministries would henceforth be coordinated by Principal Secretaries until a definitive cabinet is appointed.
He later appointed Mudavadi acting CS in all ministries.
“I have decided to dismiss with immediate effect all cabinet secretaries and attorney general of the Cabinet of Kenya except the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs,” Ruto said.
“And of course, the office of the Deputy President is not affected in any way.”
If picked, Oparanya will replace Simon Kiprono Chelugui.
Oparanya retired as Kakamega governor in 2022 after serving two terms as provided in the Constitution.
Oparanya served as the Council of Governors chairperson from 2018-2021
The political heavyweight from Western Kenya is one of the deputy party leaders of Raila Odinga’s ODM.
The other deputy is a former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
He is also the chairperson of the National Coalition Executive Council and Chairman of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party led by Raila.
The ex-governor is considered one of the country’s most experienced public servants having served as minister and governor.
He is a PhD holder in Economics from the University of Dra es Salaam in Tanzania.
Career
Oparanya who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) K had an illustrious career in accounting and finance with over 23 years of experience, having worked for various companies including; Earnest & Young where he was a Senior Audit Manager from 1980-1995.
In 1995 he joined Kenya Aerotech Co. Limited where he served as the Secretary to the Board and later on Group Finance Controller.
Politics
Oparanya plunged into politics in 2002 when he won the Butere Parliamentary seat and went on to retain the seat in 2007 under the ODM party ticket.
He was appointed Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, under the grand coalition government of Mwai Kibaki in 2008.
In 2013, Oparanya vied for Governor of Kakamega with ODM and won.
He successfully defended the seat again in 2017 with the same party and retired in 2022.
Early life
Born in Butere, in 1956, the 65-year-old attended Mabole Primary School before he proceeded to Butere Boys High School for his O-levels and on joined Kisii High School for his A-levels.
From there he joined the University of Nairobi in 1977-1980 for his Undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting).
He joined the same institution in 1999-2000 for his Masters in Business Administration (Finance).