The Star, for the second time, publishes a report card for the President and his Cabinet. We have excluded the new Cabinet Secretaries who were sworn in last week. This year’s report shows that, despite a few good performers, Uhuru’s team has dropped the ball in many areas, affecting the President’s score.
President Uhuru Kenyatta , C ( You are okay)
A leader works for those who put him in leadership. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s main responsibility is to protect the lives and property of Kenyans as he implements his election promises.
If those promises could be described as “a better life for a few politically connected”, then Kenyatta could have claimed success.
But “a better life for all?” There’s nothing to show for it. Kenya’s financial and structural troubles are there for everyone to see and, sadly, they are hurting the poor most yet these people struggle to afford the most basic needs. In the last one year, taxes have gone up without commensurate services being delivered.
The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer and living at the mercy of criminals, especially al Shabaab terrorists.
The corrupt have continued to roam our streets and have the sheer audacity to get into the NYS and the 47 counties, among other public institutions, and walk away with billions of shillings.
The middle class is being hammered from every direction, especially economically, yet this group has the potential to change the face of Kenya. As if that were not enough, all our national sports are in a shambles, with doping, corruption and utter negligence condemning our young people to drugs and hopelessness.
According to the constitution, the president has two broad responsibilities, among others: Advancing the constitution and advancing national unity.
The constitution has been raped many times this year, with many gains being clawed back. Tribalism has continued to raise its ugly head, unemployment continues to grow and our politicians are turning citizens against one another. Uhuru continues to enjoy the support of his Jubilee Coalition and has supporters across the country, despite concerted efforts by the opposition to portray him as a bumbling, weak leader who is asleep on the job.
Uhuru’s schedules are not for the physically weak and faint-hearted. The number of projects he is implementing keeps multiplying: SGR , Irrigation, Laptops, CCTV, new airports and airstrips, etc.
Yet none of them are complete and have translated into economic growth, or sustained jobs, or progress towards a common identity. At best all this motion keeps us in the same place.
William Ruto, Deputy President, D (Get your act together)
D (Get your act together): William Ruto will find the Deputy President’s position frustrating because the constitution does not give the deputy real power.
He is at the mercy of his boss, the President. The chemistry between Ruto and Uhuru seems to be holding, despite the DP saying it was unfair to dismiss the suspended CSs. Ruto is consistently steeped in controversy. From responding to opposition leaders every weekend, the man from Sugoi in Eldoret has been dishing out millions of shillings in a series of never-ending harambees.
The opposition has unsuccessfully tried to use the harambee generosity issue to demand a lifestyle audit of the DP, even calling him the High Priest of Corruption in government. Ruto is adept at playing internal Jubilee politics. In fact, MP s openly say they prefer Ruto to the President because he is generous.
His party foes have watched in growing horror as he turned the party into a machine for dispensing patronage and oversaw the destruction of URP. The DP has been linked to all manner of corruption scams and for this Ruto needs to critically re-examine his image.
Jacob Kaimenyi, E (Resign!)
Having taught at the University of Nairobi since 1985, the appointment of Jacob Kaimenyi as Education CS was acclaimed as a step to professionalise one of the country's critical sectors. Unfortunately, the professor of dentistry has precipitated the worst education crisis in the more than two years he served.
Before he was transferred, or should we say demoted, to the Lands docket, the Ministry of Education was in a mess. For the first time in history, the country witnessed monumental exam leakage of both KSCE and KCPE papers. More saddening is that the good professor first strenuously denied knowledge of the massive cheating. A conclusion of incompetence is unavoidable.
Then there was also the five-week strike by teachers. With national examinations approaching and students ill- prepared, Kaimenyi largely remained mum. No engagement at all with stakeholders. In fact, he had a frosty relationship with teachers’ unions and at one time nearly exchanged blows with Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion in Parliament.
On his watch, Jubilee has been unable to deliver one of its key flagship projects: the laptops for primary schools. With only one-and-a-half year to the next election, children have even forgotten the once-much-hyped promise.
No wonder he is the only CS who has faced a censure motion in the National Assembly. Last year, he scored a D.
Dr Fred Okengo Matiang’i, ICT, C ( Your are okay)
Is undoubtedly one of the most experienced professionals in President Kenyatta’s administration, but also very controversial. As acting Lands minister, it was expected that Matiang’i would end the turf wars with the National Lands Commission, however, the row escalated. Proposed amendments to three land laws – the Land Registration Act 2012, the National Land Commission Act 2012, and the Land Act 2012 had many unconstitutional provisions.
Matiang’i has also been blowing hot and cold on media freedom. His support for the Media Act 2013 and the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Act 2013 was ill-advised.
However, the tough-talking minister is credited for solving some of the most controversial land rows, including disputes dogged by conflict and sometimes murder. On his watch, Matiang’i issued titles to the troubled Kishushe Cooperative Ranch in Taita Taveta county, giving them exclusive rights over the iron ore-rich land.
He also issued titles to shareholders of the Kihiu Mwiri land-buying company that was
rocked by mysterious serial killings of its directors.
As Information CS, Matiang’i delivered on digital migration, despite vicious opposition by media oligarchs. Last year he scored a D.
Raychelle Omamo, Defence, C (You are Okay)
Is a woman of many firsts. She was the
first woman to become the chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya and the first to be Defence minister. However, as CS, Omamo is not breaking any new ground. On her watch, the image of the Kenya Defence Forces has been increasingly battered.
Recently the military was implicated in a multi-billion-shilling sugar smuggling racket in Somalia. In a familiar script,
Omamo quickly rubbished the report. But the trained lawyer had also dismissed reports of KDF looting at Westgate in a similar fashion before being ashamed by massive digital evidence.
In May this year, a United Nations report claimed Kenyan companies and the KDF are leading participants in illegal charcoal exports through Somalia’s Kismayo Port worth Sh22 billion annually. Can’t she institute proper investigations into these scandals?
Her presence at the Assembly of States Parties lobbying for the setting aside of the controversial ICC Rule 68 against DP William Ruto was also underwhelming. Isn’t that outside her mandate?
Eugene Wamalwa, E (Resign)
He was vetted on June 9, 2015 and sworn into office months later. He is largely uninspiring, a huge failure on irrigation policy and the transition of the water sector to accord with and respect the devolved system of water management.
He is spending more time meddling in politics than his docket. He has of late berated a number of MPs who question his agenda and endorsing coalitions and detailing what the 2013 Jubilee lineup ought to have been.
Henry Rotich, D (Get your act together)
Underperformed compared to last year. He failed to offer a satisfactory account of how the Eurobond billions were used. No projects so far and the math he is churning out do not add up.
The shilling also weakened on his watch to an all-time high against the dollar. Bank lending rates have equally skyrocketed.
He has been busy issuing austerity measures that he cannot enforce in a bid to cut government wastage in public spending.
Joseph Nkaissery, C (You are Okay)
An improvement from his predecessor, Joseph ole Lenku, who got an F. Nkaissery’s notable successes include restoration of relative calm and maturity in managing the security sector, though there has been much grumbling that he has overshadowed the Inspector General of Police.
His boasting about being the first to arrive in Garissa and doing nothing while leaving the Recce squad unit stranded in Nairobi during the terror attack on Garissa University.
James Macharia, B (Good, but room for improvement)
Until recently, Macharia doubled up as Health and Transport CS. He
is not only described
as one of the sharpest CSs in the Uhuru administration,
but his close confidants say his word is final. Macharia’s grade
remains at B due to how he handled the controversial medical equipment distributed to the county hospitals. The fight between the ministry of Health and the Catholic Church over polio drops was also not handled very well.
Until his exit, Macharia was pushing to turn the NHIF into a universal healthcare scheme. He also oversaw the restructuring of the drug supply chain. As the Transport and Infrastructure CS, Macharia annulled the decision by the Kenya Ports Authority to sack over 100 employees.
Phyllis Kandie, B (Good, but room for improvement)
Kandie, the
immediate former CS in charge of East African Affairs and Tourism, has made several strides from last year’s D grade to B. Described by many as the critical stone that the builders almost rejected, Kandie has been able to turn around the battered tourism industry. The ‘Make it Kenya’ campaign
aims to boost tourism investment in the country. She is now more visible and will take credit for Kenya’s commitment to the EAC integration process.
Kandie, now the
Labour CS, through the Huduma Centres, managed to rationalize licensing procedures in order to reduce the time it takes to register companies and work on reduction of non-tariff barriers to business.
Hassan Wario, F (Please fire him, Mr President!)
Only the President knows why he spared Hassan Wario the axe when he reconstituted his Cabinet the other day. Sports federations are run by cabals and self-serving elites; our national teams have become the laughing stock in the region and internationally.
Instead of sorting out this mess, ensuring the national teams are welltaken care of and the crooks in sports are jailed, the minister has maintained a “see no evil, hear no evil attitude”.
Sport is woven into the national fabric of the country and gives many Kenyans immense pleasure. Mr President, someone else can do this job better than Wario, so some strategic direction would go a long way towards making us all feel less miserable about the sporting future.
Githu Muigai, AG, C (You are Okay)
Apart from vigorously defending President Uhuru and Deputy President Ruto at the ICC, Attorney General Githu Muigai is a self-described “mortician”.
Critics say he has left the State Law Office in the hands of Solicitor General Njee Muturi. So, why is the brilliant law don so hands-off these days?
Many laws have been finding their way into Parliament without the AG’s knowledge. It is baffling how this is possible. Muigai, for instance, disowned the controversial Kenya Defence Forces Amendment Bill.
The draconian law, full of many unconstitutional provisions, gives express authority to the Chief of the Defence Forces to deploy KDF in civilian operations.
Then there were the controversial amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications Act 2015. This, too, was disowned by the good professor
Adan Mohammed, D (Get your act together)
On his watch, the Vision 2030 blueprint is no more. In fact, it is like the only economic blueprint Kenya has is the Jubilee manifesto. Some of the ministry’s vision remains just on paper.
Take, for instance, one of the ministry’s key policies, the Constituency Industrial Development Centres. This was to provide work sites and tools for the youth to pursue gainful employment in all the constituencies across the country. Nothing has been achieved in this respect at all.
Indeed, three years down the line, no one can say with certainty whether Mohammed has done anything, let alone inspired change. Nothing much has been heard of his ministry and nothing has reverberated on the ground from the golden touch everyone expected from him. He is just there.
Najib Balala, Mining, C (You are Okay)
The immediate former Mining CS, who was recently moved to the Tourism docket, made some improvement to bolster him to the next grade, a B.
During the last grading Balala had scored a C-plain but during this year’s review the CS, who has opted for a low profile, has made significant improvements.
Before he was moved in the recent mini-Cabinet shuffle, Balala had overseen the drafting and passage of the Minerals and Mining Policy and Mining Bill 2014, which will repeal legislation on mining and establish a clear legal framework for the management of mineral resources in Kenya.
Balala also spearhead the establishment of a Mineral Audit Unit that ensures the government gets its true share of mineral proceeds in the form of royalties, fees and other charges.
Prof Judi Wakhungu,
C (You are Okay)
Wakhungu has improved and she is now in full control of the ministry. Last year she had scored a D, but, stung by the grade, Wakhungu went fulltime and developed a work plan with timelines.
Working with other state agencies, her ministry has controlled high magnitude poaching and ivory smuggling. Environmental affairs receive unqualified audits and has not been rocked by scandal recently, with the exception of the poisoning of lions in the Masai Mara.
Her biggest problem is political will. The government still only understands the path of big power and centralised development, hence the decision to carve out sections of the Nairobi National Park to pave way for SGR. Her biggest task is to ensure equitable development that considers environmental effects.
Amina Mohamed: D (Get your act together)
A poor performance, down from last year’s C. She has perfected the art of sound bites but no substance. One would be forgiven for thinking that getting the Foreign Affairs docket was the one ingredient she lacked on her CV to qualify for the United Nations secretary general’s job.
She has endeared Kenya to the US, UK and Italy, but been a great failure on regional affairs, especially in the East African region.
There were also missed opportunities at the UN Security Council. She is constantly travelling outside the country, overshadowing her PS and attaches at the ministry. One wonders where she gets the time to consult on ministerial policy matters.
She goofed with sugar matters between Kenya and Uganda on whether there was a deal signed between the two countries.