I am not a 'desk minister' - Salim Mvurya defends his leadership style

Salim Mvurya, the nominee for Trade Cabinet Secretary, denied accusations that he was a 'desk minister' during his two-year tenure at the Blue Economy Ministry.

Speaking during his vetting on Saturday, Mvurya said he had moved around the country during the time he served as CS for Mining and Blue Economy.

"No, I'm not a desk minister. I was in West Pokot because of the Sh45 billion clinkerisation programme and in many other places across the country, including Makueni, Busia, and many others. I may not have come to your constituency, but I can give examples of many of them," he said before the National Assembly Appointment Committee.

"I think we also need to acknowledge that our country is very big and you cannot be there at the right time," Mvurya added.

He was responding to Pokot South MP David Pkosing, who claimed that many Kenyans viewed him as a desktop minister.

Despite recognising the country's extensive geography, Mvurya said that the Blue Economy department was quite new and could not start travelling before putting structures in place.

"Remember, this ministry was fairly new, and we had to put structures in place before we went there. I may not have visited most parts of the country, but I have a lot of field information I can give," he added.

National Assembly deputy speaker, Gladys Boss, also questioned Mvurya's communication skills, saying that he had a good service delivery record that was not packaged and disseminated well.

"This confirms what the President said that you have had very poor communication because you have done great things but no Kenyan knows about it. I'm from the Fluorspar area and didn't know we even have an investor for it," Gladys Boss stated after Mvurya stated that some sections of Rift Valley were mapped for investment.

She encouraged the CS nominee to use the vetting process to share his track record.

Salim Mvurya, Trade CS nominee, appears before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments on Saturday, August 3, 2024.(Photo: Parliament)

In February, Tifa released a survey on the activities of President William Ruto's former cabinet in 2023.

It is important to note that at the moment all the ministries don't have CSs after President Ruto dismissed the entire cabinet last month, except for Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi.

The survey ranked former interior cabinet secretary Kithure Kindiki as the top cabinet secretary with the most local activities in 2023.

The survey showed that Kindiki had 192 local engagements during the period under review. Out of these, 74 of the activities were within Nairobi County.

The Interior CS was followed by Florence Bore (Labour) with 185 activities and Zachary Njeru (Lands) who had 165 engagements.

Former Cabinet Secretaries Alfred Mutua (Tourism) and Aden Duale (Defence) were ranked as the CSs with the least number of engagements locally.

Mutua had only 23 local activities, 17 of which were in Nairobi; Duale had 62 (44 in Nairobi); and Ezekiel Machogu (Education) had 72, of which 44 were outside the capital.

Mutua was ranked as the most travelled government executive abroad.

Mutua, previously in charge of the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, was followed by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, formerly of the Trade and Industrialisation Ministry.

"Given the international nature of his ministerial portfolios, extensive travel is an inherent expectation," the report said on Mutua's travel.

Former Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs CS Salim Mvurya was third, followed by ex-National Treasury's Njuguna Ndung'u and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi came in fifth.

According to the survey, there was no documented evidence of foreign travel related to Kindiki and Machogu's roles in 2023.