Mixed reactions greet Cleophas Malala's statement on plan to audit CSs

 

Deputy Rigathi Gachagua at UDA Headquarters in Nairobi flanked by UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala on June 26, 2023. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

A casual announcement by President William Ruto's party that it will conduct a public audit of Cabinet Secretaries has lifted the lid on the insecurities in the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Over the weekend, UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala said the party will evaluate CSs, eliciting mixed reactions from leaders.

While some felt Malala was overreaching himself, others chose to err on the side of caution, afraid that the audit may have the blessings of the president. Others chose to hold back, reflecting on the one-party rule days when officials acted as sounding boards to the president's wishes.

And as confusion hung in the air on Monday, June 26, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua turned up at the party headquarters and expressed confidence in Malala.

"We have confidence with our SG and the direction the party is heading. We are encouraging him to continue with his party activities," Gachagua said.

But speaking earlier in the day, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei poured scorn on Malala's audit move, saying the party did not have the capacity to do an audit on the CSs and PSs. She said audit was not Malala's job to do.

"Malala cannot be the boss of the CSs because the ministers are only answerable to the appointing authority. UDA as a party does not have capacity. They only have performance contracts with the appointing authority, and that is not Malala" said Shollei, while affirming that this was her personal opinion.

She said in any case ministers were not active UDA members who can be subjected to its processes. She also questioned Malala's performance in the party and hoped he was misquoted on the audit matter.

"I am personally disappointed by the performance of Cleo Malala. He has been going around on UDA membership drives and many of the meetings he has attended have been violent. How will you hold CSs when you cannot even hold one meeting in a room, not even a rally?" she posed.

She said the whole thing sounded "a bit off" to her, that "it's not common sense" and wondered whether Malala was trying to destroy UDA: "I think there is something wrong!"

In an interview with the Standard, Malala had said that they will be seeking views from millions of its supporters across the country and make public the ranking of Ruto's top government officials.

The SG noted that they will use set parameters and evaluation matrix to look into their performance. He said they will make recommendations to the president on a number of measures to take based on the public approval rating every six months attracting mixed reactions from the leaders allied to the party.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said the party leadership led by President Ruto and UDA membership had absolute faith in the performance and management of the party by Malala.

"The other comments are individual comments which do not reflect party position," said Cherargei.

Kesses MP Julius Ruto said although they have not held a UDA parliamentary group meeting to discuss audit issues on government officials, the comments by SG Malala are positive.

Ruto said the idea will boost oversight on performance as promised by the governing party in its yellow book.

"Based on promises to deliver, the comments are positive. Activities in ministries are headed by Cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries and they should achieve goals and objectives to avoid any blame on the executive," said Ruto adding that the proposal is not a witch-hunt.

Soy MP David Kiplagat also said he is not privy to the remarks, saying it is not clear what structures would be used in the audit.

Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei said the party can create the shadow CSs and PSs so that they can check the substantive office bearers.

"The best they cannot do is to ensure that the government is still within the manifesto. They should however repeatedly remind those in government to ensure that they remain within the pledges," said Sigei.

Political analyst Javas Bigambo said that it was important that the president and his government deliver on his mandate, as a basis for him to be re-elected in 2027. He said the SG may as well be trying to help the President in sharpening the focus of his CSs.

"Each CS must be aligned to the Kenya Kwanza manifesto. However, we have the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi in whose mandate the performance rests as per Executive Order No. 1 of the president.

Bigambo said that it was important that the party and the government remain focused on the manifesto. The party organs must speak in a manner that they are not at cross purposes in the government, and harmonize their approaches.

"The president is keen on ensuring his government performs going by what actions we have seen when there were allegations of impropriety in some of the government sectors.

"At this point, his party can help in reminding his appointees of the pledges they made in the campaigns," said Bigambo.

On Monday, Malala maintained his stand.

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