The political class holds a common adage that “if you can’t make a mark in the first 100 days of your stay in an office, then forget it.”
This reality has come home for Kithure Kindiki as he marked the treasured timeline last Saturday since he took over as deputy president.
During Kindiki’s swearing-in, President William Ruto decried how he was a lone ranger in running government.
The president lamented he had no one to help him explain the government agenda to the masses who’ve been impatient with his administration.
This begs the question of whether Kindiki has fixed the president’s headache; including being the link to Ruto that Mt Kenya MPs asked him to be.
Political watchers say the DP is turning out as the one fixing crisis after another, besides helping represent the president in international functions.
The DP represented the president at inauguration ceremonies in Botswana and Mozambique.
“Now this is a Deputy President, a proper principal assistant, the anchor man that this administration has terribly lacked in the last two years. The results are beginning to show,” Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said.
It is emerging that the DP has also revived consultative forums at counties, which were reportedly ignored by the former DP.
In its manifesto, Kenya Kwanza indicated that it would review its programmes and plans at county economic forums every year.
But for two years, none of the forums were held, yet the same are meant to take stock of progress.
“I now understand why President Ruto settled on Prof Kindiki as his deputy. He has the capacity to understand, internalise and articulate government programmes with a proper grasp of issues,” Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit said.
“Kindiki clearly knows the programmes and projects the government is doing, why and how they are being executed, and how they will improve the livelihoods of Kenyans,” the county chief stated.
President Ruto has been facing a barrage of criticism, a situation that bureaucrats would dissipate in the face of the explaining Kindiki is doing.
The DP, in the delegated role, has been using the county forums to explain the development plans and track progress, as well as reprioritize development plans.
At least 47 meetings are lined up, in some cases three per day, in the near term to engage Kenyans on their priorities.
Seven counties including Taita Taveta, Kajiado, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Isiolo, Samburu, and Kiambu have been engaged in the forums.
The meetings have delegations of thousands among them grassroot leaders, carefully selected chairs of community caucuses and public opinion leaders.
“As the Mt Kenya MPs caucus, we entrusted the Deputy President, then as CS Interior, with unlocking key development projects in our region, and he has truly delivered,” Kiambaa MP Njuguna Kawanjiku said.
He cited the DP’s efforts to include the First Boda Boda Summit in Embu and the Aguthi rural electrification project in Nyeri.
“This showcases his commitment to empowering communities. These initiatives of improving access to healthcare, financial opportunities, roads, and electricity are a testament to his dedication to uplifting Mt Kenya and beyond. We encourage him to continue this vital work,” the MP said.
Pundits report that the DP’s style has been a huge departure from his predecessor Rigathi Gachagua style of politics.
Besides allegations of tribalism, the former DP was ousted as second in command for among other claims 'failing to assist the president'.
An analysis by the Star reveals that in the period, the DP has engaged the National Assembly’s 250 MPs in various meetings, sometimes meeting them in groups.
And while on it, the DP has chosen to conduct his own activities and is not tagging along with the President all the time.
The DP has held meetings with 40 out of the 67 Senators and visited 25 counties in tow, as part of efforts to ensure the government delivers.
It is understood that the president has tasked his deputy with the delivery agenda, putting him at the centre of determining Ruto’s second term.
Kindiki has also in the period held 50 meetings with various sector players including agriculture, unlocking bottlenecks.
He is credited for interventions that have resulted in positive action, earning him the “President’s Mr Fix it” moniker in power circles.
His intervention averted a planned doctor’s strike and also resolved a stalemate between the Council of Governors and the controller of budget.
The DP has also been taking blows on the problematic Social Health Insurance Fund, assuring Kenyans its teething problems were being addressed.
Kindiki has also intervened to end woes in the new Electronic Travel Authorisation regime and also taken up county engagement forums.
“It is my duty to call for these reviews every year as the Deputy President and UDA Deputy Party leader. I will be updating the President on the outcome of these reviews,” he told delegates from Kajiado.
At Kenanie leather factory, he ended a row that had led to stoppage of works, setting the project ready for use. A launch is expected in the next two months.
Kindiki has also taken up a central role in mobilisation and engagement around the government delivery agenda, leading Cabinet sub-committee meetings.
Interventions to end femicide and state corporation mergers are among the deliverables of the engagements with CSs at the sub-committee level.
It is understood that more CSs are finding value in cabinet committee meetings and there is order in how the government is conducting business.
Kindiki is also said to aim at reducing letter writing by government officers and break silos believed to be slowing service delivery.
Insiders say that since he took up the mantle, “President Ruto has rested a bit as the legwork is being done by Kindiki”.
It is understood that the President will not launch programs going forward, in an effort to instill a reputation in the presidency.
As such, Cabinet Secretaries will be the ones to launch programmes with DP ‘as the foreman’ ensuring they are completed before the president commissions.
In terms of projects, Kindiki has been leading inspections of the Dongo Kundu SEZ which has taken inordinately long before completion.
Observers say the DP is not new to assignments that have a difficult terrain, citing the milestones of his time as Interior minister.
He is credited for silencing guns in the Kerio Valley battlefields, championing improved terms of service for security personnel, and for order at passport control centres.
