By Kilemi Mwiria
NAIROBI, KENYA: Iam in agreement with the President for appointing a largely professional Cabinet. This is in keeping with our new Constitution, the mood of the public and Parliament. There are, however, those who believe that governance being a balance between politics and performance, a blend of politicians and professionals would not be a bad idea. Although not so intended, this requirement was satisfied with the nomination of Charity Ngilu and Najib Balala who could not have possibly been left out having been an integral part of the Jubilee campaign team. Interestingly, the same public complaining over their inclusion would have been the first to say how unreliable the President and his Deputy are in respecting pre-election pacts.
By the way, most politicians also qualify to be professionals. If given the chance, some can do even better than most pure professionals in their respective careers. In any case, after losing an election, the person in question ceases to be a practising politician. We should also draw the line on how far we extend this rule; otherwise opponents of former politicians could always use it to lock them out of future Cabinets.
In addition to political and constitutional considerations, there are merits in not including politicians who participated in the last elections in the Cabinet. Some have deeply entrenched interests that would make them vulnerable to manipulation by their supporters, constituents and those they may have done business with. This is not to say that a few of the senior bureaucrats who have been included in the Cabinet may not have the same baggage.
Professionalisation of the Cabinet should also minimise tribalism in our politics. Many politicians join parties and political alliances in the name of their tribes and call on their people to follow them wherever they go. In a sense, this has contributed to political party instability with some high profile politicians opportunistically hopping from one political party and alliance to another while negotiating their place in the governance equation on the basis of the tribal numbers.
There is every possibility that the Cabinet assembled by President Uhuru will perform better for a number of reasons. Hopefully this team will feel less obliged to support some political agenda just because a senior politician is pushing for it because, as the Deputy President said on their introduction to Kenyans, none of them was asked which political party they belonged to before they were appointed. They can withstand political pressure if they want because they will have the backing of the public and can always go back to their old jobs.
In addition, their private sector mentality should lead to enhanced public sector performance by those under them because they will introduce fresh ways of doing business. They are well placed to strengthen private/public partnerships. If they are proven, they need not be qualified in the disciplines of their respective ministries as the job required of them is more one of managing people and resources and not as practitioners on the ground. That many of them come from better paying jobs than that of Cabinet Secretary is evidence that their motivation is to serve the country.
They should, however, expect resistance from many who belong to the old order without similar business discipline or are occupying their jobs, thanks to some powers above. Unlike the private sector, where they can easily fire non-performers, the Secretaries must find a way to win the cooperation of those under them through widespread consultations. Their biggest challenge will be to satisfy expectations of the new Government and Kenyans. They have to find a way of implementing the promises made during the campaigns; it does not matter they would have done it differently if they were consulted. Cynical members of the public are waiting for a lapse of the 100 days of the Jubilee Government, by which time key promises in education and health should have been implemented. Meanwhile, one hopes they will be given the professional leeway to do a good job for Kenya.
