This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
On Friday, Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku reflected on his past experience as the Interior Cabinet Secretary, a position he claims he was appointed to without his consent.
According to Ole Lenku, he had applied for a permanent secretary (PS) position in the Interior docket, but was instead appointed as the Interior Cabinet Secretary by President Uhuru Kenyatta in September 2013.
Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV, Ole Lenku revealed that he was shortlisted for the PS position, but was surprised by the President's decision to appoint him as the Interior Cabinet Secretary.
“I applied for a PS job. I was actually interviewed and was shortlisted for the post which was forwarded to Uhuru,” Ole Lenku noted.
He further disclosed that when the President called him to State House to discuss the matter, he thought he was being interviewed for the PS position, but was instead appointed as the Interior Cabinet Secretary.
“When the President called me to State House to talk to me, I knew I was being interviewed for the PS position. In an interesting turn of events, I was appointed interior CS. I think that drama is in the public,” Ole Lenku disclosed.
His appointment as the Interior Cabinet Secretary was met with criticism, with many questioning his ability to handle the position, given his lack of experience.
President Uhuru Kenyatta later regretted not handling security issues with total keenness, terming it the greatest mistake his government made in his first term at the helm of the country’s leadership.
During a past press interview, the President was asked to describe his worst regret, which he said was taking too long to reorganize security systems in the country that led to rampant insecurity.
“It took longer than it should have to do the reorganization that we did in the security forces. I would say that we should have done that a little earlier,” he highlighted.
The Head of State indicated that restructuring the country’s security personnel bore fruit since Kenya had seen improvement in the ability to deal with terrorism and other major crimes.
“I think that was something that ultimately once we did it and we got a new team and greater co-operation amongst the security actors that has resulted in us now seeing the kind of positive impact in terms of improved levels of security,” Uhuru elaborated.
