Double standards in reappointment of chief executive officers
Published on 20/07/2008
Gakuu Mathenge
The reappointment of Mr Joe Barage Wanjui as the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi adds to the suspicions President Kibaki only pays lip service to the war against impunity.
Wanjui, a former chairman of the Transparency International board, is among a group of senior civil servants who made it to the ignominious list compiled by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, (KNHRC), and submitted to the Attorney General for prosecution over alleged indiscipline late last year.
They were listed as having been in violation of the Public Officer Ethics Act that was enacted by the Ninth Parliament to restore respectability to the Civil Service.
The list contained the names of what has come to be known as political CEOs, a select cabal of privileged civil servants, who conduct themselves in a manner suggesting they are not bound by the common law and the Civil Service code.
The KNHRC concerns was that the civil servants named in its election monitoring report titled “Still Behaving Badly†had violated the Public Officer Ethics Act, the National Assembly and the Presidential Elections Act by compromising the independence of their offices by getting mixed up in partisan political activities.
Other CEOs listed in the report include Mr George Muhoho (Kenya Air Ports Authority), Mr Nathaniel Kang’ethe (Director, Kenya Revenue Authority), Mr Eddy Njoroge (Kengen), Mr Titus Mbathi (Former PS and Chairman, Kengen Board), Mr James Kimonye (Then MD, Kenya Meat Commission), and Prof Nick Wanjohi (then Vice-Chancellor JKUAT) from involving themselves in PNU politics.
All of them were in the Presidential Advisory Board and the Elections Board, the two outfits behind the operations and activities of Maendeleo Resources Trust that operated under the slogan Kibaki Tena in the last General Election.
Blue-eyed boys of the Kibaki
Section 16 (1) of the Public Officer Ethics Act says no civil servant shall get involved in partisan political activities, as an agent for or so as to further the interests of a political party; indicate support for or against any party or candidate in an election; or engage in activities that are likely to compromise the political neutrality of his office.
The impunity with which the so called blue-eyed boys of the Kibaki regime also exposed the head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Francis Muthaura, to accusations of doublestandards, after he kicked out other civil servants who wanted to join politics.
Early last year, he issued a directive for civil servants wishing to join politics to resign by June.
The conduct of the political CEOs is a throwback to the ugly 1960s and 1970s when certain members of the “Familyâ€, some relatives and cohorts of the founding President Kenyatta got away with mischief.
Pioneer head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Duncan Ndegwa says in his biography that impunity by senior civil servants who enjoyed political patronage in the 1970s, poisoned morale of the rest of the Public Service.
—The writer (gmathenge@eastandard.net) is a senior writer with The Standard
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Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:38:58 +0000
From: Nicholas Mireri
Subject: Kenya:Kibaki’s Political CEOs
Everybody knows that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Kibaki will never change his style of management. He is a chameleon as all of us know. So what do we expect from a chameleon??
I still believe that if ODM would have taken over the Government, things would be different. This unholy matrimony called coalition is a non starter. We stillhave many conservatives in the Government.
I would still like to see meaningful change in this Government and to me Kibaki will always remain a chameleon.
It is high time this marriage between PANU and ODM break because it is only serving PANU. Apart from the few who were
appointed ministers,ODM supporters have yet to benefit.PANU
will make sure that known supporters of ODM do not benefit
to make it appears that Raila and his ODM leaders are just interested in themselves.This plan of denying ODM supporters
jobs and business opportunities will eventually bring bitterness
to ODM supporters which make the party to stop growing.
PANU knows that ODM is a party which must not be left
to take root.Therefore,the leaders of ODM must come out
strongly to demand their share. It is not a favour when we
ask for our share. The government should be representative
where all tribes in kenya are entitled for any job. We do not
want hear that some jobs are only left for a particular.Every body is paying tax in kenya.Raila and his team should not
sleep while their party support is being frustrated .When ODM
becomes docile at this time round,kenyans will get fed up and
you will lose their support completely.
Remember you are working with chameleon and you must
wake up. In fact,PANU ‘s plan at the moment is dominate
security operations by promoting kikuyus and muru in the
care areas in the police and military.Immediately, PANU succeeds
in dominating these security areas,Kibaki will now look for away
of kicking ODM away.At the moment ,Kibaki is taking his time
to consolidate his power then people will know his intention.
You may be surprise that he will want to stand for thirty time.