4 out of 18 Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Nominees

President Uhuru Kenyatta has named four of his 18 Cabinet Secretary nominees in a press conference held at State House, Tuesday.

The four include a respected World Bank consultant Dr Fred Matiang’i Okengo, seasoned diplomat Amina Mohammed, Economist Henry K Rotich and James Wainaina Macharia from the private sector.

Profiles

 Amb Amina Mohammed, Foreign Affairs
 Married to Mr. Ahmed and has two children.

• Lawyer and diplomat by profession and has served in the public service since 1985.
• Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi.
• Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs. 
• Former Ambassador of Kenya to the United Nations at Geneva.
• Served in the Ministries of Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

Henry K Rotich, National Treasury
Age: 44  Married with two sons.

• Holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University.
• Holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from University of Nairobi and Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (First Class Honors) from the same University.
• Served at the Central Bank of Kenya, since 1994.
• Head of Macroeconomics at the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, since March, 2006.   
• Work as an economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nairobi.
• Consulted as a short-term macroeconomic expert in the region – in Mozambique, Malawi and Rwanda with the IMF’s East AFRITAC (in Tanzania) and Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI) in Zimbabwe.
• Part of designers of macroeconomic convergence criteria of the proposed East African Monetary Union.

James Wainaina Macharia, Health 
Age: 53 Married with two children

• Top in class for both “O” levels and “A” Levels (Kagumo High School, Nyeri). 
• Attained Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) University of Nairobi – 1983
• Selected by Deloitte & Touche to train as a Chartered Accountant in London, UK.
• Qualified CPA(K). 
• Holds MBA Degree from Henley Management College, UK.
• Joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1989, rising to become Financial Controller in 1994.
• Worked in Zambia as Managing Director, African Banking Corporation, and later transferred to Tanzania in the same position.
• Group Managing Director with NIC Bank from 2005 to-date

Dr Fred Matiang’i Okengo, Information Communication and Technology.
Born in Borabu Married and has two children

• Taught at Egerton University and the University of Nairobi.
• Consulted previously for among others the World Bank, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Development Programme.
• Immediate former Country Director of the Kenya Parliamentary Support Programme.
• Leaving his current position as the Eastern Africa regional Representative for the Centre for International Development, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the State University of New York.

The nominees await vetting by the newly constituted 28-member Parliamentary Committee on Appointments.

Source: PPS