It Was Rushed: Irungu Nyakera On Ruto Firing Him From KICC Job

Nyakera revealed that the timing of the move raised red flags, even though he revealed he had no issue with being fired.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Apr 9, 2025 - 13:05
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It Was Rushed: Irungu Nyakera On Ruto Firing Him From KICC Job
A photo of Irungu Nyakera during a past rally with William Ruto. /IRUNGU NYAKERA

Former Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC) chairperson Irungu Nyakera has claimed that his ouster from the role by President William Ruto was done with urgency.

Speaking in a radio interview on Spice FM on Wednesday, April 9, Nyakera revealed that the timing of the move raised red flags, even though he revealed he had no issue with being fired.

“The issue that I took with the firing is that it was done on a Tuesday, on a special issue. It shows intolerance.

"There was nothing special for it to be on a special issue. It could have been done on a Friday, on the next gazette issue,” said Nyakera.

President Ruto last week revoked Nyakera's appointment as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of KICC and immediately appointed Samuel Waweru Mwangi for a period of three years, changes which took effect on Tuesday, April 1.

Former Transport Principal Secretary (PS) Irungu Nyakera at KICC on December 19, 2024. /IRUNGU NYAKERA

Nyakera was appointed to the role seven months ago, tasked with transforming KICC into a leading center for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism, aiming to position it as a strong competitor to destinations like Kigali in Rwanda and Cape Town in South Africa.

With regard to skipping Ruto's recent Mt Kenya tour, Nyakera attributed this to Kenya Kwanza’s repeated unfulfilled promises, adding that the endless cycle of unfulfilled promises left him disillusioned; thus, he opted to skip the tour because he was fed up with the lies.

Nyakera also stated that he skipped the tour as a form of protest against what he called the Kenya Kwanza regime’s repetitive and stagnant promises. He noted that the same commitments made during the 2022 general elections continue to be echoed, yet no real progress has been seen.

“People are angry because of failed promises; the same promises we made then are still the promises that will make today and are the promises that they made two weeks ago when they were having the Mt Kenya tour, and that is why I did not want to attend the Mt Kenya tour because I did not want to hear lies or be forced to tell them,” Nyakera said.

“I remember in 2022, we were part of the Kenya Kwanza coalition as the Farmers party. I defended Kenya Kwanza for the first year; you can give excuses, but by the third year, you can not give excuses because that means by 2027, you will be campaigning the same way you were campaigning in 2022."

Just days after President Ruto revoked his appointment as KICC Board chair, Nyakera’s political party began steps to leave the Kenya Kwanza Coalition.

In a statement on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, Nyakera announced that the Farmers Party’s National Executive Committee had approved the decision to break away from the ruling alliance.

The party has since issued a 30-day notice to the Registrar of Political Parties, formally declaring its plan to exit the coalition. It pointed to dishonesty and a lack of delivered promises as key reasons behind its decision to break away from the Kenya Kwanza coalition.

“While the Farmers Party in good faith entered into a Coalition Agreement with like-minded parties under the Kenya Kwanza Coalition on 23rd March 2022, it is with deep regret that we note a consistent pattern of dishonesty, political infidelity, and outright disregard for both the Constitution of Kenya (2010) and the spirit of our Coalition Agreement by our major coalition partner,” the letter penned by the party’s secretary, Simon Kamangu, read in part.

Side by side image of Irungu Nyakera and President William Ruto. /IRUNGU NYAKERA.PCS

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