Five dumbfounding controversies sparked by Trade CS Moses Kuria
For his controversial statements and positions against individuals and institutions that are not his cup of tea, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria continues to be in the dog house with a section of Kenyans as well as international dignitaries including the United States’ Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai. These cold relations between himself and Ambassador Tai saw him locked out of a high profile meeting in which she hosted and his absence from a recent Trade round-table meeting in Chicago.
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Nairobi News samples five times CS Kuria uttered statements that did not age well:
- “I am firmly in charge” of Kenya- Two days ago, in the absence of Presdient William Ruto who is currently in America, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who was in Columbia and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, CS Kuria claimed he was in charge of the country despite the Speaker of the National Assembly being present. “Our President, Deputy President, and Prime cabinet secretary traveled outside. This means I am firmly in charge,” said CS Kuria. By law, in the absence of the the President and Deputy President, the Speaker of the National Assembly is in charge of the country.
- “Drill your own wells”- In response to uproar over the historic high cost of fuel in Kenya, Moses Kuria told people who were complaining to drill their own wells. “Ukishinda umesema bei ya mafuta imeongezeka kutoka asubuhi mpaka jioni, si uchimbe kisima chako (When you keep complaining about the cost of fuel increasing from morning to evening, why don’t you drill your own oil well)?” said Moses Kuria. He said this after warning Kenyans that the cost of fuel will continue increasing by Sh 10 every month until February 2024.
- “Media are prostitutes”- In June 2023, despite a court order in place preventing him from from speaking about and insulting Kenyan journalists, Moses Kuria went ahead and defied the order and branded media as prostitutes. “I said recently an arrow in the night…these prostitutes from the media, how they come at me is how I will respond to them. The way they feel hurt when I call them that, is the same way we are hurt when they wrongly accuse us…and they should give us time to work, they were with the previous government for 10 years,” said Moses Kuria. The court order stemmed from a complaint from the Media fraternity in Kenya when Moses Kuria insulted journalists for a report which implicated him in an edible cooking oil mega scam.
- “No government advertising on Kenyan mainstream media”- Moses Kuria went ahead and threatened to withhold all government advertising on certain media houses after being linked from the aforementioned edible oil scam in which his office was linked. He faced backlash for these utterances after also branding the journalist who exposed the corruption a prostitute.
- “We will go and protest/urinate outside Mama Ngina/Uhuru’s home” In July 2023, Moses Kuria went on a rant insulting former president Uhuru Kenyatta and his family and while at Gatundu Stadium, he threatened to storm the Kenyatta Ichaweri home and urinate outside the gates. He faced backlash from Mount Kenya supporters who demanded he apologize to Uhuru Kenyatta and to show his respect.