Environment CS Keriako Tobiko broke into a fit of anger during the burial of former Nairobi Speaker Alex Ole Magelo in Kajiado County.
This is after a decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta to bypass him in the delivery of the Kenyatta family’s condolence message.
A furious Tobiko had expected to speak last but the burial’s protocol which had been prepared together with Office of the President’s senior officials placed him before Governor Joseph Ole Lenku and President Kenyatta’s elder sister, Christina Wambui Pratt.
In the sitting arrangement, Ms Pratt sat next to Governor Lenku and they could be seen lending an ear to each other regularly during the ceremony.
The protocol honchos had plotted to have CS Tobiko speak before Governor Lenku so that after Lenku’s address, Ms Pratt would be given the prime time to read Mr Kenyatta’s written condolences.
When Deputy Governor Martin Moshisho rose to speak, he handed the programme to Governor Lenku who invited Tobiko to speak as he stood behind him.
An agitated Tobiko shot up from his seat and publicly expressed his embarrassment by the protocol arrangement, angry that he was not recognized as the SENIOR MOST government official, and the only one WITH A FLAG at the well-attended burial.
Scratching his head and grinning at the grieving widow, Lucy Muthoni, and her three children, CS Tobiko gave an indication that he was the one supposed to deliver the President’s Message of Condolence.
Ms Pratt, Office of the President official Kenneth Kihara, and Mr Kenyatta’s longtime aide, Njee Muturi, watched in disbelief as Mr Tobiko faulted the FIRST FAMILY for not letting him read the President’s Speech.
” I am very unhappy at the protocol. I will talk about it at another time. I am the senior most Government officer here,” he bluntly said looking at Mrs Pratt.
Appearing cornered and in a desperate measure to have everyone recognize his status as Cabinet Secretary, he asked all National Government Officers present at the burial to stand up and be seen.
However, Mr Kihara, Mr Njee Muturi and Principal Secretary Saitoti Torome remained on their seats.
When she rose to speak, Ms Pratt ignored Mr Tobiko’s reaction to the First Family’s plan to honor Magelo and insisted that the Magelos were “close friends”.
After the ceremony, Mr Tobiko flew out of Kipeto in a chopper christened -Kenya Forestry Service(KFS).