President William Ruto has revealed that late ODM Party leader Raila Odinga did not expect him to appoint John Mbadi as the Treasury Cabinet Secretary.
Speaking on Monday, June 15, Ruto revealed that the late Raila was opposed to the appointment of a Treasury CS from the Luo Nyanza region.
The Head of State said he defied the former Prime Minister and nominated Mbadi to head the National Treasury docket.
“I remember very well, my brother Raila Odinga had a different opinion of who should be the Minister of Finance. I told him that if there was one place I would defy him, it was in the appointment of a person from Luo Nyanza to be the first CS or Minister for Finance,” Ruto revealed.
President Ruto explained that his decision was a deliberate effort to correct historical prejudices and heal ethnic divisions.
“This was to correct a negative profiling of a whole community; that they don’t care about poverty, or that the economy belongs to certain people,” Ruto stated
The President compared Mbadi’s appointment and his decision to appoint the late General Francis Ogolla as the Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
“When I decided to appoint General Francis Ogolla to lead the Kenya Defence Forces, I was correcting the negative profiling that some positions are reserved for some people and some positions can never be occupied by others,” Ruto added.
CS Mbadi joined the Ruto Cabinet in August 2024 after President Ruto had dismissed the entire cabinet to form a broad-based government.
Other ODM leaders who joined the Cabinet were Hassan Joho (Mining), Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives), and Beatrice Askul (EAC and Asals).
