Trade CEC Stephen Kuria clarifies why he is ‘holding brief’ for county health services boss
Trade CEC Stephen Kuria during an interview with Mtaa Wangu on July 29,2025.
There may be a new, but old Sheriff in town.
Well, it is not absolute, but the conspicuous absence of the County Executive Committee Member for Health, Roselyn Mungai, is palpable and can be felt in a day’s time on two different occasions.
In her place, and it is worth noting that place is a deliberate choice of word, has been her counterpart, the CECM for Trade, Tourism, and Cooperatives, Stephen Kuria, who on Wednesday, March 12, led Nakuru County in marking World Kidney Day.
Kuria also notably joined the county's health management team on a visit to key service delivery points at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital- a docket, by all appearances, that is not his to carry.
And we only know this because of a carefully worded Facebook post by the Nakuru County Government, which alludes, without quite saying so, that Kuria is ‘holding brief’ for Waziri Mungai.
The phrasing is deliberate in the way it sidesteps any direct acknowledgment of her absence.
Now, in the ordinary course of county business, when a CECM is unavailable, it is the Chief Officers, Directors, and other senior members of the administration who step in to keep the wheels turning.
A counterpart does not ‘hold brief’ and for many may be an unheard-of situation.
Which is precisely what makes Kuria's presence in Mungai's territory so curious.
Health CEC Roselyn Mungai addresses journalists at a previous media sensitization workshop on Mpox in Nakuru city.
However, in a phone call with Mtaa Wangu, Waziri Kuria is candid about his position.
“I am substantively the CEC for Trade,” he says. “But I am now also holding brief for Waziri Mungai. She has gone on leave for one and a half months and will be back by the 1st of May.”
He is equally forthcoming about why it had to be a fellow CEC stepping in, rather than a Chief Officer.
“You know our position as a CEC is not a light one. There are so many duties that come with it - you have to sit in Cabinet, and a lot of leadership has to be offered in the department,” he points out, adding that a vacancy in such a pertinent space must always have someone holding that position.
For those who had already begun reading between the lines, making speculations about looming changes in the health docket, and had already written Mungai's ministerial obituary - perhaps hold that thought. At least until May.