CABINET SECRETARY ADAN MOHAMED CONTRADICTS PRESIDENT UHURU ON SGR

The cabinet secretary was quoted by one of the dailies as saying “The SGR is a very good idea but terminating it in Naivasha will not help Kenya’s geostrategic interests,” openly contradicting the president over the issue.

CS Adan Mohamed

East African Community and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed seems to have defied his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta on the age old doctrine of Cabinet collective responsibility in regard to infrastructure developments, particularly the SGR a project currently being undertaken by the Jubilee government with some financial support from the Chinese. 

The cabinet secretary was quoted by one of the dailies as saying “The SGR is a very good idea but terminating it in Naivasha will not help Kenya’s geostrategic interests,” openly contradicting the president over the issue.

Kenya, the CS said, risks being pushed out of international trade by regional countries “who have decided to do their own things without involving us.

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta on board the VIP coach of SGR

 Mr. Mohammed spoke while addressing the Senate Speaker’s Roundtable in Naivasha last week. President Uhuru Kenyatta has in the past stressed the need to strictly observe the doctrine of collective responsibility. President’s position on SGR is that despite the challenges expected in taking the project beyond Suswa where it currently terminates, the railway will be built to its original target of Kusumu-Malaba to maximise on its economic benefits.

The roundtable is a platform that provides for structured engagements between the private sector and the Senate by facilitating a joint review of legislative matters that contribute to economic growth and development in Kenya. 

The idea behind the collective responsibility mantra is that Cabinet ministers represent in public a decision or policy, made by the entire Cabinet. Thus the individual minister becomes spokesman for government policy. Even if a minister finds that the policy is against his or her conscience, he or she should refrain from criticizing it.