After the Cabinet reshuffle and performance contracting...

I was just thinking about the reshuffle that happened last week; the one that we in the Fourth Estate have baptized ‘mini-reshuffle’.

Raila (the Prime Minister) picks Ruto and sends him to the higher education docket, previously just a department of the Ministry of Education. The PM has already blamed the 8-4-4 system as a crude one, as unproductive and as the genesis of Kenya’s problem.

Some survey report vindicated Mr Odinga. I think the survey was conducted by Uwezo, a non-governmental organisation that has been collaborating with the Ministry of Education in its work.

The Minister for Education is Prof Sam Ongeri, he who was a staunch Kanu minister and member when Mr Ruto was a strong pin in the Moi administration.

Now, these two, who share that history and were once suspended by the Prime Minister over corruption allegations, are in the same basket. Ha! It should tell you something; perhaps the PM is saying “birds of a feather flock together.”

And then Mr Ruto gets the number two slot for being in the Agriculture docket since the coalition government was formed. Performance contracting it is. So, Mr Ruto gets official recognition given that the President (and his son Jimmy) both said that he was doing great work at Agriculture.

And now the PM, while releasing the performance contracting results says the results did not figure in the fight against corruption yet the President has said it several times that the fight against graft is a ‘government policy’. Come on, what was it that you guys were awarding.

The Attorney General Amos Wako emerges number one after that UN human rights rapporteur Philip Alston called him and Ali (former Police Commissioner) as the embodiment of impunity in Kenya. Ha! Performance contracting indeed!

Where was Otieno Kajwang’, he of immigration where we now get passports at “like that” speeds? Where was John Michuki and his environment, or are the matatus (noise thing) the ones that denied Michuki, or perhaps it is the tonnes of uncollected garbage littering various parts in the city?

Why has Robinson Njeru Githae, he of Metropolitan Development taken the ministry to the dogs? Can you imagine he appears down at the bottom after he launches the planning strategy, okay, 08-09 Mutula Kilonzo (now at Justice Ministry) was the minister with his lofty ideas and more talk.

Where is the ministry of roads?

I digress, but then, this Tinga man is very smart. Just wait and see how he’s going to work out his thing. And that’s the only reason I like politics not! Too bad, Sally (Kosgei) had to bask in Ruto’s ‘glory’.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This is Louis --that interview with artists was tight!

Louis Otieno is one of the few broadcasters I do enjoy watching. Of course (I like that word alot), there is Rama Nyang' and Jeff Koinange. So, I am not talking about broadcasters today, so I will not list all my favourites. That's a story for another day. So, when he moved to K24 from Citizen TV, Louis moved with his name which is already a brand in media circles. He hosts a weekly talkshow, really a discussion like that of CNN's Larry King, that is not only informative, but truly resonates with the people of Kenya. So here he was this Wednesday night with leading artists in Kenya, the cream of the entertainers of this country. There was Nameless and Juacali (all musicians), the talented Arthur K. (a TV music producer), Larry Asego and Kajairo (influential radio personalities in their own right) and one Ben Njiru, a man in a smart suit, I don't know who he is. The chitchat focused on the constitution. But then there was the usual bibble-babble about being left out of t...
Read more

LONG READ: The YALI Experience in 3,200 Words

Image
There are lessons you are inadvertently taught when you are a 35-year-old being forced to sit in the same class with an 18-year-old. Imagine someone who is half your age, with less of life experiences sitting by your side, being taught the things you should have learned eighteen years ago. You feel a little jealous that you were not told these things early enough; that some people are just lucky. But you also feel hopeful that a young generation is being made to learn about better ideals of leadership, and what a good society should look like. It is also somewhat shameful that you haven’t really done a lot to ‘change lives’, and in a country with a life expectancy of 61 years such as Kenya, you take a silent vow – the things you tell your heart and your mind and your conscience— to use the remaining part of your life to change the world. Your world. But when you sit in that class with an open mind, to learn not just from the lecturers but also from your colleagues, both the one...
Read more

Order! You two principals!

I am not a prophet. But I know two things about the President and his men: they believe they are the law, and if not, they believe they are above the law. I spend most of my time in Parliament and that is not something to smile about. A friend of mine, George, joked that I spend my time “surrounded by 222 idiots”. “How do you survive?” he asked. Being a journalist, I looked at him. Is this guy trying the ‘show-me-your-friend-and-I-will-tell-you-who –you-are’ thing on me? But then I laughed it off. But, kindly indulge me. The President submits names to Parliament. The Prime Minister makes a lot of noise about being left out of the loop and asks the Speaker not to accept the President’s nominees. So, the Speaker is harassed for sometime to make crucial decisions. He ponders about it; buys time “hoping” the President and the PM will sit and agree. The duo fail to agree and say, “On the Issue of the nominations to fill State offices currently under consideration by Parliament, the two ...
Read more