CSs need not have specialised knowledge of ministries that they head

The newly sworn-in Cabinet Secretaries follow through with President William Ruto's speech at State House Nairobi on Aug 8, 2024.[PCS]

The current and former governments have been accused of appointing Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and Principal Secretaries (PSs) to ministries that they were not qualified to serve. For some reason, some Kenyans believe that CSs and PSs should have specialised knowledge relevant to the ministries and State departments they are respectively appointed to head.

They believe that technical skills and knowledge relevant to a ministry or State department ensure that the CS or PS will work well.

For example, a medical doctor is best-placed to lead the Ministry of Health and a person with a Bachelor of Education degree to head the Ministry of Education.

This view is mistaken. The late Nathan Munono, Julius Gikonyo Kiano, Taita Ara Towett, John Michuki, Simeon Nyachae and many others ably managed the affairs of various ministries under the presidencies of Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki without possessing specialised knowledge of the ministries.

Heading top positions of a ministry or any organisation doesn’t require technical skills or specialised knowledge. That expertise is relevant at the operational or delivery level of a ministry, State department, or agency. There are no patients, wards, theatres, or laboratories at Afya House, the headquarters of the Health Ministry. There are no learners, classrooms, whiteboards, laboratories, and other basics for teaching and learning at Jogoo House, the Headquarters of the Education Ministry.

The top level requires the authority and power to influence, to mobilise others behind the vision, purpose and values that undergird a ministry or State department. The position also requires a man and a woman who are ready to look for and solve problems that hold back their areas of jurisdiction from providing services to the citizens effectively.

This requires men and women who explore appropriate policies, rules and regulations to induce effective and efficient delivery of services.

All that the CS or PS brings to this position is judgment, critical, conceptual and analytical thinking. He also must possess problem-solving skills critical to providing policy direction to the pressing problems and challenges at hand.

The person also needs to be a good listener and at the same time, one who asks hard questions about the advice he is given by the bureaucrats about the policy issues he is supposed to consider and sanction.

The top positions are about policy, direction, and responsibility. Not execution. Not implementation.

Any CS or PS who falters in providing policy direction does so not because of a lack of technical knowledge core to the ministry or State department. Rather, they falter largely because they don't mobilise the collective intelligence, knowledge, and judgment of the technocrats to deal with the issues at hand, or intimidate them whenever they seek counsel from them.

The key to marshalling the minds and judgment of the technocrats is constant consultation. The Consultations can be formal through senior staff meetings or informal. It is during these sessions that senior officers, including heads of divisions and sections, present their understanding and views on the issues at hand. The CS or PS listens carefully to understand the inherent complexity of the issue or problem.

The CS or PS must be very patient to listen to the different perspectives about an issue before making a decision. That way, the CS or PS gets to appreciate the dimensions of the problems that are bogging down seamless delivery of quality services to the citizens. This is where a keen listener gets to ask hard questions, seek explanations behind the inequity in service delivery, as well as delays or otherwise of services.

Without this, a CS or PS risks relying on one or several smooth-talking senior officers when grappling with serious policy issues to the exclusion of the rest, who might otherwise be more knowledgeable and competent on the issues at hand. Needless to say, dependence on such “smart” officers easily gives rise to wrong decisions and, therefore, wrong actions.

Lest we forget. A leader has personal responsibility not only to find problems but to correct them. This responsibility comes before all other obligations, before personal ambition or comfort.

The knowledge, skills, abilities, and values required to steer an organisation have little or nothing to do with hard skills core to an organisation. It has everything to do with soft skills.