President Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured)’s Cabinet resumes duty today to full in-trays.
In the past, the president has publicly chastised his appointees for lethargy and lackluster performance. Today begins another chance for the men and women to redeem themselves.
Kenyans will particularly be watching to see if the cabinet secretaries will invigorate the President’s war against corruption. A number of them have been mentioned in relation to certain cases. This would be a good chance for the President to crack the whip and get rid of tainted names and non-performers.
The cabinet secretaries must be seen to be pulling in the same direction as the President and working as a team. The kind of flip-flopping on policy matters that characterized some dockets last year must end. So should bullish tendencies witnessed in certain dockets.
Cabinet Secretaries work at the pleasure of the President who is currently enjoying massive goodwill from Kenyans. His team must not be seen to be eroding this goodwill.
With rumours of an impending reshuffle rife, one also hopes that the president will take advantage of the public goodwill to streamline his Cabinet and bring in men and women with impeccable credentials in their respective dockets. Kenyans hope that a reshuffle, if any, will not be informed by politics and rewarding certain interests but on the need to infuse efficiency.
A seamlessly functioning team of men and women is what the president needs by his side.
His legacy depends on these men and women. They are the ones to make his Big Four Agenda either a reality or a pipe dream. This perhaps explains the President’s sense of frustration with some of them in the past.
At one point the President accused some of merely sitting in offices, attending meetings and generally acting bullish. One can only hope that they listened to their boss and that Kenyans will see more robust, hands-on servant leaders.
The CSs must walk the talk and be seen to be working. At no time should they seem to be serving any personal interests.They must remain focused and apolitical.
Above all, Kenyans expect the Cabinet Secretaries to rein in on wastage and uphold the highest standards of accountability within their dockets.
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