Kabatesi is said to have come under pressure from government circles to quit after lecturing Koskei on the designation of government offices.
On Monday, Kabatesi threw in the towel after days of immense pressure and called it quits from the prime CS’s office.
Kabatesi accused the top government official of forcing him out of office saying he would compromise on his ideals.
Kabatesi said the officer demanded that he issue an apology over a statement he authored last month protesting the redesignation of Mudavadi’s office.
“I was pushed out because he demanded an apology for my October 15 statement. I chose to resign,” Kabatesi told the Star.
On October 15, Kabatesi released a stinging statement that appeared to rebuke Head of Public Service Felix Koskei for allegedly purporting to designate the prime CS’s office.
In Koskei’s communication, which was shared with the media, Mudavadi’s office was moved from the Kenya Railways Headquarters to the National Treasury Building along Harambee Avenue.
But Kabatesi said the powers to reorganise government and designate offices for state officers was a prerogative of President William Ruto.
“Any public servant purporting to allocate Ministerial locations or portfolios is misguided to the extent that they are attempting to usurp a function that belongs to the President,” Kabatesi said in his statement dated October 15.
“Additionally, portfolio designation is the prerogative of the President and cannot be usurped by a Civil Servant. In the recent reorganisation of government, the State Department of Performance Management under which the Public Service Performance Management Unit falls was deployed to the Ministry of Public Service.”
Kabatesi’s statement had appeared to sharply contradict Koskei’s position at a time when there were tussles over office space among some cabinet secretaries.
There are reports that Kabatesi’s statement did not sit well with senior government officials who saw it as embarrassing and demeaning for Koskei’s office.
Further, the secretary said his action is with a clear conscience, asking the PCS to offer him his payment for all the accumulated dues and arrears.
“I do this with humility that my talent will find utility at another time in the service of our great country.”
He was tasked to supervise government strategic communication of policy, its articulation and dissemination in his new patch at the presidency while overseeing and guiding strategic communication across government ministries, state departments and agencies.
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