Muthama on being left out of Ruto's Cabinet: I am getting something very soon

Former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama says he is not worried about being excluded from the list of Cabinet Secretary nominations President William Ruto announced last month.

Muthama, who is the party chairman of Dr Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA), has said that his support for the Head of State was not conditional in exchange for a CS post.

"I am not worried, I never demanded to be a CS. But I want to assure you one thing, I would be in the leadership as I have been before playing a role that will keep on uniting Kenyans," Muthama told TV47 on Sunday.

If anything, the outspoken former senator says, he is up for a role in which he will be orchestrating things as a midfielder in a football game.

"I am getting something very soon. I am getting something that will make me in a position to play football as a distributor, as player Number Six."

According to the Senator, the Head of State cannot possibly reward everybody who supported him with leadership roles such as CS posts because millions of Kenyans turned up to vote him in as Kenya's fifth president.

"We are 50 million Kenyans and putting into consideration who voted for UDA and Kenya Kwanza is 50 plus 1 per cent. So assumingly, 49 per cent did not vote for UDA. That means to accommodate everybody who went to vote for UDA will qualify to have very serious positions. That means we will need to have 25 million positions," Muthama argued.

"Of that matter, even if you take the number that voted for UDA of about 7.2 million people, you need that number of CSs," he added.

Muthama is a fierce defender of President Ruto and he was among those expected to be nominated into his 22-member cabinet unveiled on September 27.

However, he described himself as someone whose involvement in politics is motivated by patriotism and not monetary rewards.

"There are those who work for others to benefit. There are those who love this country so much that they do not consider the contribution they make can be paid or compensated... I am one of those who work and make others live well," said the UDA chair.

In the meantime, the National Assembly has welcomed submissions from members of the public ahead of vetting of the CS before the end of this week.

National Assembly Clerk Serah Kioko on Friday said the Committee on Appointments requires citizens to participate in the process by presenting their written statements on the suitability of the CS designates.

Vetting of the nominees by the House is set to commence on Tuesday, September 11.