The newly posted Livestock PS Jonathan Mueke has taken over from the outgoing PS Harry Kimtai who has since moved to the State Department for Medical Services.
Speaking during the handing over ceremony at Kilimo house, Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mithika Linturi welcomed Mueke to the ministry and assured him of his support.
“Here we work very closely like equals, there is no one who is bigger than the other and we freely walk into each other’s office, which nurtures team work,” said Linturi.
The CS commended Kimtai for the good work that he had done at the ministry, which has laid a proper foundation for the incoming PS.
“I am available to give the necessary support and I believe if we carry on with the normal business of consultation and compromise, there will not be any problems and we don’t expect any,” said Linturi.
He said that the incoming PS having been a deputy governor in Nairobi has the requisite experience to manage the department and drive it forward.
On his part, Mueke said that he looks forward to working with CS Linturi and other staff at the ministry in aligning their priorities with the government’s Bottom up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“I have had meetings with the teams here and they have appraised me on where the priorities are and we are here to execute them,” said Mueke.
“I have moved from the Ministry of Sports where I was used to wearing track suits and now I have come to the Ministry of Agriculture, where I will be putting on gumboots and lab coats and I am very excited about the new assignment,” said Mueke, who previously served at the State Department Of Sports And The Arts in the same capacity.
On his part, Kimtai said that he had been at the State Department for Livestock Development for the last five years and they have worked very closely with its officers in supporting the ministry in various programmes.
“I want to assure my incoming colleague that this team that I am leaving behind is one that delivers on its mandate,” said the PS.
Kimtai called on the team at the State Department for Livestock to accord the same support that they gave him to the new PS at the department.
“I will be heading to the Ministry of Health as the PS for the State Department for Medical Services. My office is just a walking distance and in case of any consultation, I know I still have the institutional memory of the department and I will pass it through to my colleague whenever he needs me,” he said.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
