Ruto Appoints Ex-CS Charles Keter As His Advisor

President William Ruto has appointed former Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter as his advisor on Great Lakes Region Affairs.

The appointment was confirmed on Thursday, September 14 by State House Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam. 

Keter's new role as advisor of the region will see him advise the president on policies and approaches to the region.

Former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter. /THE STAR

"With humility, I wish to express my gratitude to H.E. the President, Dr. William Ruto for appointing me as his Advisor on Great Lakes Region Affairs. I am deeply honoured and grateful for the trust and confidence that he has placed in me by appointing me to this role.

"I am genuinely excited about the opportunity to contribute to the development, prosperity, and stability of the Great Lakes Region under his visionary leadership," he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The Great Lakes Region consists of riparian countries that include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Some of the countries in the region have been embroiled in civil wars and instability, especially DRC and Burundi.

The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third-largest freshwater lake in the world by area, Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth, and Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest freshwater lake by area.

Collectively, they contain 31,000 cubic kilometres of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes, a total which constitutes about 25 per cent of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10 per cent of the world's fish species live in this region.

Keter will join other advisors in helping Ruto with economic, foreign affairs, and trade, compared to the previous regime which allocated most functions to Cabinet Secretaries, having a limited number of advisors.

He served in former President Uhuru Kenyatta's government before stepping down in 2022 to vie for the Kericho County governor position, but he did not get past the nominations., losing to Eric Mutai, who is the current governor.

The former CS who was also the first Senator of Kericho County and considered to be Ruto's close ally, opted not to run as an independent candidate after he lost the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) nominations.

His first taste of politics was during the 2002 general elections when he won the Belgut parliamentary seat. In 2007, he was elected for the second term under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.

While representing the Belgut people in the National Assembly, the politician also served as the assistant Minister for Energy from 2008 to 2013 before running for the Kericho senatorial seat under the Uhuru-led Jubilee Party ticket and winning.

Keter held the position until he was named the Energy CS under the Kenyatta administration in 2015, but was later transferred to the Devolution ministry in a reshuffle. 

President William Ruto and former Devolution CS, Charles Keter during a past campaign trail. /PEOPLE DAILY