Echesa fired as President Uhuru reshuffles Cabinet

Hillary Orinde

Sacked Sports CS Rashid Echesa. [File, Standard]

President Uhuru Kenyatta has finally moved to reorganise his power axis as he endears to achieve his Big Four legacy dream. Sports Cabinet Secretary Richard Echesa has been fired and replaced by former Education CS Amina Mohammed. In Amina's place, KNEC Chairman George Magoha has been nominated to head the Education docket. The Principal Secretary, State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunication, Fatuma Hirsi has also been sacked. SEE ALSO :Anxiety as assertive Uhuru takes charge
Six other Principal Secretaries were also moved as follows: Susan N. Mochache, CBS-Ministry of Health Mr. Ali Noor Ismail, CBS-State Department of Cooperatives Dr. Ibrahim M. Mohamed, CBS-State Department of Environment & Forestry Eng. Peter Kiplagat Tum, OGW-State Department of Labour Dr. Margaret Mwakima, CBS-State Department of East African Community Affairs (EAC) Dr. Susan Koech-State Department of Wildlife The announcement was made through Executive Order No.3 of 2019 dated Friday, March 1. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the changes were cognizant of the need to better equip and orientate his Government in the implementation of its transformative vision for a better Kenya. He added that the shake-up was “necessary to embed operational enhancements and functional changes that shall make Ministries, State Departments and State Agencies better able to deliver on their mandates”. PS Amina has been having a bumpy ride at the education ministry and a challenging time fitting in the shoes of her predecessor, the energetic Dr Fred Matiang'i. Prior to her transfer, she was on overdrive implementing the 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools, with a reasonable measure of success. In December, confusion engulfed the launch of the competency-based curriculum when she suggested the government was not ready to launch it this year only to be overruled by higher powers. “The rollout of the new curriculum is important, but it cannot be rushed,” the CS told members of the Senate Education Committee last year. President Kenyatta would later apologise to Kenyans for the confusion created by government officials issuing contradictory statements. Amina had said the new 2-6-3-3 Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which was supposed to be launched in January 2019, had been put on hold. “The design is fantastic but the devil is in the detail of implementation. We are doing all we can as a ministry to bring stakeholders on board,” she said. As for Rashid Echesa, he had it coming. When the President chided certain Cabinet Secretaries for spending most of their time campaigning and politicking, it was not lost to observers that he may have had the man in mind. Around that time the CS was ever present in the entourage of Deputy President William Ruto's political tour of Western Kenya. Echesa has openly dabbled into politics and was once quoted as advising anybody who eyeing the presidency to ensure they had a multi-billion shilling war chest.