Ruto team tightens power handover rules

President William Ruto’s team has drawn tough new transition laws that will for months clip the wings of top government bureaucrats and render the incumbent head of state a lame duck president.

The bill for instance, bars state officers from entering into commitments with suppliers and contractors 90 days before the presidential election.

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“No Cabinet Secretary or Principal Secretary shall make any commitment that is or is intended to be binding on the government,” the proposed law reads.

The Assumption of the Office of President and Transition of Executive Authority Bill, 2025 has been formally introduced in Parliament.

The government-backed legislation sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah only allows “necessary commitments”, with ready budgets.

The proposed law further prohibits cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries from making fresh appointments of public officers.

The officers would also be barred from traveling outside Kenya without express and prior written approval of the Head of Public Service.

Ruto team is also barring accounting officers from making or authorizing payments above Sh50 million without Treasury approval.

During the transition, public officers would be barred from entering into contracts on behalf of the government.

International obligations binding on the government would also be prohibited, with those in breach poised for hefty fines of up to Sh10 million.

In the new rules, ministries, departments and agencies will be required to issue handover reports by July 15 of the election year.

In the reports, ministries and government departments would be required to disclose bank accounts and their reconciled balances, policies, ongoing programs and projects, and human resource matters.

The staff data is to include their establishment, pay, achievements, training, performance appraisal, and ongoing disciplinary matters.

Also to be stated would be assets, pending bills, ongoing acquisitions, procurements, and disposal of assets.

Ongoing court cases and related liabilities are also to be disclosed, so are planning matters including performance contracts and work plans.

Allegations of sabotage rocked President Ruto’s takeover from his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.

Ruto’s team at that time complained that they were denied the right treatment deserved by a president-elect, including access to security briefs.

They further claimed that the transition team was not heeding the then-President-elect’s requests.

Attempts to block the government printer from churning the gazette notice detailing Ruto’s election were cited.

At that time, key members of the committee, including then Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, were not seeing eye-to-eye with Ruto.

A transition committee, to be established under the new law, is to receive the reports, for subsequent briefing of the president-elect.

In the proposed dispensation, accounting officers would continue to hold office until a new one is appointed in their place.

The bill further expressly provides that the absence of the outgoing president wouldn’t affect the swearing-in.

“The absence of the outgoing president at the inauguration shall not invalidate the assumption of office by the president-elect,” the proposed law reads.

As such, there would be no ‘sword and constitution’ to be handed over when the outgoing president is absent or when the incumbent is the president-elect.

The president-elect and deputy president-elect would be entitled to full security as is assigned to the sitting president and deputy president.

The bill has expanded the transition committee to include nine nominees by the president-elect besides the designated state officers.

They would be bound by the Official Secrets Act regardless of whether they are public officers or not.

One of the President-elect’s nominees would be appointed as co-chair of the transition committee. The Head of Public Service would also be the co-chairperson.

“The president-elect shall nominate a co-chairperson from among the nine persons, and that co-chair shall be the spokesman of the committee,” the bill reads.

Others are the Attorney General, Secretary to the Cabinet, Immigration, Internal Security, Defence, Foreign Affairs, ICT, Finance, and Culture principal secretaries.

Chief of Defence Forces, National Intelligence Service director general, Inspector General of Police, Clerks of Parliament, and Judiciary chief registrar are also members.

They would need a quorum of two-thirds to make decisions and the absence of a member wouldn’t matter as long as the threshold is met.

“The committee shall hold office until the expiry of the transition period,” the bill reads in part.

Should MPs approve the bill, a transition secretariat would be set up to handle the technical aspects, such as briefings.

“The secretariat shall include public officers from various offices,” the bill reads, indicating they would be drawn from among others the head of public service’s office.

One person would be from the Cabinet Office, another from the national government administration office, a counsel from the Attorney General, one officer each from NPS, NIS and KDF, and three persons from the National Treasury.

A transition centre would be set up to serve as the transition centre in Nairobi to serve as the transition office of the president-elect and deputy president-elect.