Business Daily (Nairobi)
27 October 2009
editorial
The ongoing row over the decision by Youth Affairs Minister Hellen Sambili to reinstate Umuro Wario as the chief executive of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund gives a clear picture of the kind of woes that continue to visit Kenya's public service.
By reinstating Mr Wario to the Youth Fund--months after the Inspectorate of State Corporations accused him of mismanaging the institution, Prof Sambili joins the list of ministers who have controversially hired or fired parastatal heads over the past few months.
The Fund's board has rejected the appointment in what could throw the multi-billion shilling parastatal into a management crisis.
This is a clear case of ministers disregarding parastatal boards advice on appointments and dismissal of top officials, a big signal of the kind of political games that continue to be played in public institutions.
While political patronage in the appointment of top civil servants is not a new thing in Kenya, its clearer it has worsened.
The appointment of top civil servants based on their political leanings is neither unique to Kenya as the practice is common in advanced democracies such as the United States and Britain.
Pressure to depoliticise Kenya's public service has failed to have the desired effect, with every new regime appointing a new crop of top managers.
And this is turning lethal to the vision of achieving efficient public service delivery.
Just this month, the 2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance indicated that Kenya's governance credentials faltered over the last one year on the back of general lapses in delivery of public services including security and a sound economy.
It's still in the minds of many Kenyans that several ministers have courted similar controversy over appointments and dismissals like Prof Sambili.
They include Medical Services minister Anyang' Nyong'o, his colleague at the Ministry of National Heritage William ole Ntimama and Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey.
Political meddling threatens to further tear already dwindling professionalism in the public service potentially throwing into disarray what has been an otherwise expensive performance contracting system.
The programme, initiated five years ago is meant to place public officers on measurable targets to boost service delivery.
But with the kind of political patronage and meddling that continue to dominate the public service, chances of successfully ushering an effective and efficient public services are slimming every day.
Worse still, with Ministers shuffling parastatal heads every other day, anxiety across public sector boardrooms and executive suites continues to mount as the officers are not assured of job security.
As a result, they will be forced to do only what pleases the appointing authority.
The instability and uncertainty at the top echelons of parastatals means that delivery of services will be shaky and this can bring down the institution's performance.
Stability at the top offices is one thing private institutions try as much as possible to maintain even in the midst of harsh operating environments as it is indicative of the happenings of the overall firm.
In the end of it all, it could soon be hard for the public service to attract talent from the private sector to deliver results.
Its the high time Ministers respected the Public Corporations Act which requires that appointments be done through competitive bidding and with recommendations of the Board of Directors.
It will also be important for the Ministers to desist as much as possible from meddling with the affairs of public institutions. They should stick to their oversight role.
Failure to this, with the public service currently loaded with myriad political interests, Kenyans could as well forget the recent gains in service delivery which have earned the country international accolades.
And this decline could dent the country's potential as an investment hub.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
