Economic editor and columnist Jaindi Kisero has cast doubts on the alleged net-worths of President William Ruto’s Cabinet secretaries.
The Cabinet secretaries appeared before the National Assembly Committee on appointments between Monday, October 17 and Saturday, October 21.
During their vetting which was presided over by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, the cabinet nominees were compelled to declare their net worth and how they accrued their wealth.
In a piece published on Business Daily, Kisero noted that the amount of money that the CS’ claimed to be worth seemed to be fiction.
This, he explained, is because what they claimed they were worth while appearing before the committee could not add up with their annual income.
“The parliamentary committee should have forced them to table details on taxes paid from the hundreds of millions of shillings they claimed to own
“The committee should have demanded more details from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) because the information the taxman offered to Parliament was unhelpful in determining the veracity of the claims the Cabinet nominees were making about personal wealth,” Kisero noted.
Musalia Mudavadi (Prime Cabinet Secretary) stood out as the wealthiest nominee with a net worth of KSh 4 billion followed by Mithika Linturi (Agriculture) whose net worth stands at KSh 1.2 billion.
The rest are Simon Chelugui (Cooperatives and MSME’s) Sh993 million, Prof. Njuguna Ndungu (Treasury) Sh950 million, Aden Duale (Defence) Sh851 million, Moses Kuria (Trade) Sh750 million, Justin Muturi (Attorney-General) Sh700 million and Eliud Owalo (ICT) Sh650 million.
Others are Ezekiel Machogu (Education) Sh590 million, Kipchumba Murkomen (Transport) Sh550 million, Prof. Kithure Kindiki (Interior) Sh544 million, Davis Chirchir (Energy) Sh482 million, Mercy Wanjau (Secretary to cabinet) Sh475.4 million, Ababu Namwamba (Sports) Sh425 million, Dr. Alfred Mutua (Foreign Affairs) Sh420 million and Rebecca Miano (EAC) Sh397 million.
The others completing the list are Peninah Malonza (Tourism) Sh300 million, Alice Wahome (Water) Sh218 million, Florence Bore (Labour) Sh200 million, Soipan Tuya (Environment) Sh156 million, Salim Mvurya (Mining) Sh120 million, Susan Nakhumicha (Health) Sh101 million, Aisha Jumwa (Gender) Sh100 million and Zachariah Njeru (Lands) Sh80 million.
