Friday, March 15, 2024 –Former Member of Parliament Benjamin Washiali has landed a role in President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
Ruto appointed the former lawmaker for Mumias East Constituency to head the the Board of the Tourism Regulatory Authority TRAB.
This announcement effected through a government official Gazette Notice dated Friday March 15 and that this appointment would run for a period of three years.
“In Exercise of the powers conferred by section 8 (1) (a) of the Tourism Act, as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Benjamin Washiaji to be the Chairperson of the Board of the Tourism Regulatory Authority, for three (3) years,” the Gazette Notice reads as seen by this news website.
Washiali, who has since been replaced by MP Peter Kalerwa Salasya, dropped his political aspirations in 2022 to support Ruto-Gachagua presidential bid.
He had ran the Mumias East Constituency for three terms staring in Orange Democratic Movement ODM Party ticket before later switching to Jubilee Party.
One notable moment during his last days in leadership was when he was involved in a physical altercation with the then Kakamega County Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.
Oparanya had staged a mini-rally stopover at Shinda Market accompanied by Raila Odinga, when Washiali together with Rashid Echesa Mohamed also currently the Board Chair Water Towers, started disrupting the exercise.
The two accused Mr. Oparanya of not doing enough to save the collapsed Mumias Sugar Factory and war would immediately ensure with cars pelted by stones, blows rended the air until the event ended prematurely.
