Ababu Namwamba among list of dismissed Cabinet Secretaries

Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Ababu Namwamba was one of the casualties of an unprecedented cut-throat state of the nation address by President William Ruto, who announced the dissolution of the entire cabinet on Thursday afternoon.

The announcement, which spared all cabinet secretaries and Attorney General save for the Deputy President, CS for Foreign Affairs and Prime Cabinet Secretary, now means that Ababu’s near two-year spell incharge of the Sports ministry is over.

As directed by the Head of State however, there will be no vacuum in the docket, with Principal Secretary Peter Tum expected to supervise the ministry, before new appointments are made official.

Namwamba, a former Budalangi Member of Parliament, was appointed for his second stint as Sports Cabinet Secretary on 27 September 2022.

He had earlier held the docket in 2012, and was mostly credited for the enactment of the long desired Sports Act 2013, which led to the establishment of the Sports Dispute Tribunal, Office of the Sports Registrar, Sports Kenya, and the Kenya Academy of Sports.

Ababu Namwamba appointed Sports CS

His second spell was less significant however, as the former Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs often found himself in the heat of Kenyan citizens, despite taking strides in formation of a talent identification pipeline dubbed Talanta Hela.

As recent as Thursday afternoon, Ababu was in a race against time to publish a public list of all participants - competitive and non-competitive - in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after a trio of Kenyan citizens instructed him and his office to do so within seven days or face litigation.

On the positive light, Namwamba, in his first months incharge, spearheaded an end to an existing standoff between the Kenyan Government and the Football Kenya Federation, which inturn led to FIFA's ban on Kenyan football being lifted.

In his spell also, Namwamba led Kenya's bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 -which they won together with Uganda and Tanzania - and played a key role in reinstating Kenya Aquatics, which was on the verge of a lengthy World Aquatics ban.

A reward scheme for record-breaking athletes was also implemented in his spell, plus the initiation of the development of new stadia in the country in readiness for AFCON 2027.

While some of his projects have been left hanging, the public pressure - which ramped up in recent weeks thanks in huge part to the Gen Z revolution - accountability in their operation left many with bitter mouths, with many believing that there was blatant misappropriation and undue follow up.

Over to you Tum!