Cabinet rich list: Returnees who made the biggest wealth jump

President William Ruto named nominees for his second cabinet after dissolving his first one on July 11, which saw 8 individuals making a comeback despite public calls for a fresh Cabinet.

The nominees were then presented before a parliamentary Committee on Appointments for grilling from Thursday, August 1, and were all required to declare their net worth.

The first returnee to appear before the committee was Interior CS nominee Kithure Kindiki who said his net worth has jumped Ksh.150 million since his first appointment as CS in October 2022.

Kindiki, who served in the same docket before intimated that his wealth has since increased from Ksh.544 million to Ksh.694 million. He attributed the growth to dues from his law firm.

His Defence nominee counterpart Soipan Tuya was the next on the bench and she said that her net worth shot up to Ksh.243 million from the Ksh.156 million she reported in October 2022 when she was being vetted for the Environment CS position.

Tuya attributed the considerable growth to her assets appreciating over the 21 months.

Environment Cabinet Secretary nominee Aden Duale appeared before the committee on Friday and declared a Ksh.129 million increase in his net worth from Ksh.851 million to Ksh.980 million.

Duale told the committee that his assets comprise parcels of land, a cattle ranch and rental properties, among others. 

Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary nominee Davis Chirchir declared that his net worth increased by about Ksh.27.6 million between 2022 and the present.

He said his current wealth stands at Ksh.509.8 million from the Ksh.482 million he declared during the 2022 vetting process.

Despite trying to make it a non-significant increase in her net worth, Tourism CS nominee Rebecca Miano declared a Ksh.47 million jump from Ksh.397 million to Ksh.444 million.

Miano however clarified that she had not acquired any new assets since 2022 and that her properties' value had appreciated during the period.

Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports CS nominee Kipchumba Murkomen who previously sat in the Roads ministry declared a 12.73 per cent increase in worth.

From the Ksh.550 million he declared in 2022, Murkomen noted that his wallet is now packing Ksh.620 million.

"...After I was approved as Transport minister, I took a mortgage of Ksh.40 million and invested it," Murkomen told the committee on Saturday.

On Sunday, Public Service Cabinet Secretary nominee Justin Muturi said that his net worth recorded “a slight adjustment” from Ksh.761 million, which he declared when he was being vetted for the Attorney-General post, to Ksh.801 million.

On his part, Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary nominee Alfred Mutua said his wealth has increased by Ksh.42 million since he was last vetted in 2022.

He said that due to growth in land value and growth in his industries, his net worth rose from Ksh.420 million to Ksh.462 million.

Kindiki tops the list of nominees who made the most monetary increase followed by his counterpart Aden Duale with Ksh.129 million.

Mutua recorded the least increment at Ksh.42 million his counterpart Rebecca Miano.

The Cabinet nominees, including fresh entrants recorded a total net worth of Ksh.14.7B. The individual wealth is distributed as follows.