The Standard Blog

Who makes a good minister?

Published on 29/01/2010

Roseleen Nzioka

Should Members of Parliament lead ministries or should ministries be headed by highly qualified professionals matched to their areas of professional specialisation? Is it a guarantee that if a professional heads a ministry, it will perform effectively or is this just a myth?

In Kenya we can count in one hand, the number of cabinet ministers who actually perform (even averagely) in this country. One outstanding one, the Honourable John Michuki has proved that it is not about having a PhD or writing research papers for presentation at global universities and conferences. It is about getting the job done, whatever it takes.

Kenya has a tradition of appointing ministers from among members of parliament. Members of parliament are elected by their constituents to be just that, MPs. Voters do not elect their MPs based on their professions, effectiveness in leadership or integrity and credibility. MPs are elected on a whole different set of considerations.

Now when an MP is turned into a minister regardless of his competence, education level, integrity etc, you get one thing and one thing only, one big mess, which is what Kenya has experienced since independence. And now the Parliamentary Select Committee has recommended that half the Cabinet ministers be appointed from among the MPs. Does that really help matters, really?

COMMENTS

1. On Wednesday February 3, 2010, 18:13 PM , Joyce, United States wrote:

  Can we get rid of the dinosaurus in the board rooms first?

 

2. On Tuesday February 2, 2010, 15:10 PM , James Maina, Bermuda wrote:

  Ministries should be managed by presidential appointees with specific formal skills. This will create an opportunity for appointees to do the job without infusing politics into whatever ministry's agenda. MPs need to do the job of representing those who elected them. This way, corruption,fuzzy maths, maize theft, petrol rationing and asset mis-allocation power-plays will be minimized.

 

3. On Friday January 29, 2010, 15:48 PM , kennedy ngeno, Kenya wrote:

  The move by psc on appointment of ministers is good and not to be brushed aside. Our academic papers hold waters in post we hold because it shows that you are competent given a ministery to run.i fully support that half of the cabinet should not be members of parliament. I would like to see the top CEOS country running big ministries like finance, foreign affairs and planning and vision 2030

 

Post a Comment

Please note Name and a valid E-mail address are required.Your email will not be displayed on the site. Comments are fully moderated, and will not be published before they are reviewed. Posts that do not comply to www.eastandard.net Editorial Policy will not be published. Please note that submitting a comment is not the same as making a formal complaint.
Your Names*
Email Address*
Country*
Retype Verification Code*
 verification image, type it in the box

Comments*



(Maximum 400 Characters)
 

Today's magazine

  Financial Journal
Kenya’s economy is on the road to recovery

Kenya’s economy is on a positive growth trajectory. That is the judgment from leading fund management firms, investment banks, economists and the World Bank. Although the estimated GDP growth of between 3-4 per cent is still below the country’s potential, when benchmarked against competing economies in East Africa, the economy is expected to make a strong recovery this year.

Adverts