Former Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir was named Deputy President (DP) William Ruto’s new Chief of Staff yesterday.
Chirchir succeeds the late Ken Osinde, a long-serving tenant of the position who passed aware in December 2021 while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital.
Chirchir’s appointment was made by the Public Service Commission. Emmanuel Tallam, a spokesman for Ruto, confirmed the appointment.
His nomination places him in a tense political environment, as the DP is embroiled in a succession war to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose tenure ends after this August polls.
The President and his deputy had a fall-out, and the two are now prominent players in opposing groups, with the former backing former competitor and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga to succeed him. Ruto is already running for his boss’ job.
Chirchir, a staunch supporter of the DP, has been in the cold since he resigned in disgrace from the ministry in March 2015, following his involvement in a controversy involving shady acquisition of voting materials for the 2013 General Election.
Chirchir was driven out when President Uhuru Kenyatta noted in early 2015 that all public servants implicated in graft cases would be relieved of their duties, and Chirchir was one of four CSs who lost their posts.
He took a low profile after he was removed from the Cabinet in 2015.
Two years after Kenyatta relieved him of his Cabinet position, the Head of State appointed him the chief agent for the Jubilee party in July 2017.
Chirchir lost his CS position following legal suits preferred against him by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over allegations of impropriety at the Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
Chirchir had been suspected of taking millions of shillings in payments while working at the disbanded Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) in order to award lucrative ballot paper printing contracts to British company Smith and Ouzman.
Despite the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission questioning him, no charges were brought against him.
Supreme Court invalidated the presidential election results of August 2017 after a majority of the court’s judges concluded that there were reasons beyond reasonable doubt for electoral irregularities during the election.
