Meet Nadia and Zach: Kenyas youngest CASs

Zack Kinuthia, an outspoken former SONU Chairman was on Tuesday appointed the Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Education.

The post which is essentially, an ‘ assistant minister’s’ position means an appointee is responsible for helping the Cabinet Secretary to better coordinate the running of the respective ministry.

Kinuthia will have a second chance at working with Prof. George Magoha whom he worked with when he was a student as the University of Nairobi.

Kinuthia, a lawyer and political advocate was SONU’s Chairman between 2013 and 2014 and was replaced by the current Embakasi East MP Babu Owino on the hot seat.

His appointment as CAS received mixed reactions with a section of people familiar with him lauding President Uhuru Kenyatta for appointing a younger person to the docket.

Kinuthia, an ardent supporter of the President, has been on the frontline of pushing pro-Uhuru politics while criticising the DP William Ruto-led Tangatanga team.

Most recently, he was on the frontline campaigning for ODM’s Imran Okoth in the run up to the Kibra mini-poll.

In the Cabinet shake up, the Head of State also appointed 28-year-old Nadia Ahmed as CAS for ICT and Youth Affairs.

The appointment came in the wake of public outcry in which the president was accused of favoring older leaders for Government positions at the expense of the youth.

Nadia, a businesswoman, a fashion buff, mental health advocate and a published author says she broke into tears after receiving news of her appointment.

In an interview with the Daily Nation , she said she got the appointment by fighting cultural and societal stigma faced by Muslim women.

“People do not get it, a young coast-based girl who no one has read about before has been appointed as the CAS in the ministry of ICT and youth affairs,” she exclaimed.

Also appointed was Mercy Mukui as the CAS for health, Abdul Bahari as the CAS for devolution and Embu county CEC in charge of Agriculture Ann Mukami appointed as CAS for Agriculture, livestock, fisheries and cooperatives.