I've never been Linturi's PA, says Agriculture CS nominee

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary nominee Andrew Karanja has addressed the perceived relations with former CS Mithika Linturi.

While appearing before the National Assembly Appointments committee on Friday, Karanja told the MPs that he has never been a personal assistant to Linturi as claimed.

"This one caught me by surprise. For the record Mr Speaker sir and honourable members, I have never met the former minister for Agriculture and I have never been a personal assistant," Karanja said.

After his nomination by President Ruto, it was alleged that Karanja was the PA to Linturi.

Karanja has more than 36 years of experience in the public sector both locally and internationally in the fields of agriculture, rural development, and finance.

His career started as an extension officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

He holds a degree in Agriculture, a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics both from the University of Nairobi and a PhD in development economics and policy from Wegeningen University in the Netherlands.

Karanja also worked as a Planning Officer in the same ministry.

He later joined the Coffee Research Foundation (CRF) as a Senior Agricultural Economist and Head of the Economics Department.

During his 11-year tenure at CRF, Karanja worked in various capacities including working with the Cocoa Board of Ghana the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) and the Intra-Africa Coffee Organisation.

At the CRF he worked as a member of various committees, task forces and commissions that spearheaded the reform of the coffee industry in the 1990s.

He worked as a researcher at Tegemeo Policy Research Institute in 2002, where he undertook policy research on the liberalisation of the dairy industry, among others.

Currently, he is working as an independent consultant in various fields of rural development and agriculture, project evaluation, and impact assessment.

Recent consultancies linked to him include programs funded by Kenya, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, USAID, the European Union (EU), private sector companies, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) among others.

Karanja has published over 26 papers and book chapters in both international and local publications and has been given several awards and fellowships.