National Security advisor Monica Juma has been handed a new mandate and will now serve as secretary to the National Security Council.
The appointment was communicated by the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, in a gazette notice dated March 6.
"It is notified for the general information of the public that the National Security Council has appointed Monica Juma to be the secretary of the National Security Council," the notice read.
Consequently, Koskei said the National Security Council has appointed former Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet to deputise Juma in her advisory role.
"It is notified for the general information of the public that the National Security Council has appointed Joseph Boinnet as the Deputy National Security Advisor," the notice added.
The National Security Council consists of the President, the Deputy President and cabinet secretaries for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Internal Security, the Attorney General, and the Chief of Kenya Defence Forces.
The Director General of the National Intelligence Service and the Inspector General of the National Police Service are also members of the Council.
The President presides over all the meetings of the Council whose mandate is to exercise supervisory control over national security organs and perform any other functions prescribed by Parliament.
Article 240 of the Constitution says the National Security Council shall report annually to Parliament on the state of the security of Kenya.
“The Council may, with the approval of Parliament, deploy national forces outside Kenya for regional or international peace support operations or other support operations and approve the deployment of foreign forces in Kenya,” the law says.
The appointment of the duo come just days after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki reshuffled the national administration, recalling four county commissioners and transferring 20 others.
The changes which affected commissioners in counties where a security operation is currently ongoing was largely seen as part of government strategy to reorganise its troops as it counters bandits.
Until her appointment to the national security advisor, Juma served as Foreign Affairs and Defence Cabinet Secretary in the Jubilee administration.
Boinnet on the other hand left the Police Service on March 11, 2019 after a four-year stint as the IG.
He was appointed to office in December 2014 where he promised to streamline the service which at the time was highly perceived to be tainted by corruption.
On March 13, 2019, former President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Boinnet as the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
He resigned from the post ahead of the August 9 polls to vie for the Elgeyo Marakwet governor seat but lost the UDA primaries.
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