Former Head of Government Delivery Services Peter Mbae
By Newsflash Reporter
The sudden resignation of former Head of Government Delivery Services Peter Mbae may have come out of reading the political mood in Mt Kenya region towards the Kenya Kwanza government, Newsflash can reveal.
Sources close to Mbae told Newsflash that he is intending to vie for Subukia parliamentary seat in 2027, thus his resignation is a move meant to give him enough time to lay his cards well.
Dr Mbae, who was appointed to serve at the position in June last year, announced the move on Monday, 13 January 2025, in a letter directed to the Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei.
Previously, Mbae, who served as the Kabazi ward MCA in Nakuru between 2017 and 2022, served as Secretary for Investments Promotion from January 2023, following a competitive appointment by the Public Service Commission (PSC). He worked at the office of the then Cabinet Secretary for Investments and Trade, Moses Kuria.
There, he also served as the Head of the Ministerial Delivery Unit.
From October 2023, Mbae was later appointed as the Head of Ministerial Programmes in the Office of the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management.
In his letter, Mbae termed an “unfavourable working environment” as the reason for his resignation.
“In all these positions, I served diligently with utmost commitment and sacrifice, driven solely by the genuine desire to achieve sustainable transformation in the lives of citizens, in line with the Kenya Kwanza Government manifesto,” he stated.
“However, despite my passion, focus and consistency, for reasons and issues that I have consistently brought to your attention and have not been resolved to date, it has not been possible to carry out my duties as intended and my position as the Head of Government Delivery services is not tenable,” said Mbae.
However, Mbae’s resignation is seen as an early move to prepare himself to contest for Subukia parliamentary seat in 2027, currently held by Samuel Gachobe, who was elected on the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket in 2022.
“Mbae is contesting for the Subukia parliamentary seat, as he did in 2022. However, having read the public mood on the unpopularity of Kenya Kwanza’s government in Nakuru (which is categorised among the 10 Mt Kenya counties), he decided to call it quits as early as possible. This way, the public will interpret it as a disengagement from President William Ruto’s administration,” said a source close to him.
Also, the source added that Mbae was fearing to be axed from the government with the ongoing purge against officials perceived to be close to former impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Newsflash has learnt that some senior government officials perceived to be close to Gachagua have started developing cold feet, following the release of a list of persons shortlisted to be appointed as Principal Secretaries (PSs) by the PSC.
Most of those shortlisted are close associates of President Ruto, ODM leader Raila Odinga and retired president Uhuru Kenyatta.
Some of those shortlisted for the positions are former Nairobi governor Ann Kananu, former ODM nominated MP Wilson Sossion, former Nyeri deputy governor Caroline Karugu, former Health Principal Secretary in Uhuru’s administration Nicholas Muraguri, ODM-allied social commentator Gabriel Oguda among others.
With the impending changes intended to align with Ruto’s broad-based government, sources told Newsflash that more resignations could be in the offing in the coming days.
