Sunday, July 28, 2013

Former Treasury chiefs land plum State jobs

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PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI President Uhuru Kenyatta (Left) with his Deputy William Ruto when they announced the Cabinet at State House, Nairobi on April 25, 2013.
PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI |FILE President Uhuru Kenyatta (Left) with his Deputy William Ruto when they announced the Cabinet at State House, Nairobi on April 25, 2013.  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By JOSHUA MASINDE jmasinde@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, July 26   2013 at  23:30
President Kenyatta is turning to his former colleagues at the Treasury for key State appointments— a move analysts say he could be going for trust and loyalty.
Already, six former officials at the ministry of Finance and by extension the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) have landed State appointments.
Mr Kenyatta served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance between 2009 and 2012.
The government’s appointments in key industries, for example, energy, have attracted criticism for failing to represent the face of Kenya after most slots went to Mr Kenyatta’s home turf — central Kenya — as well as the Deputy President William Ruto’s Rift Valley.
The six officials, who formerly worked as senior officers in the ministry of Finance, include the current Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. He was the deputy director of economic affairs at the Treasury.
Ms Anne Waiguru who worked at the ministry as head of governance was appointed Cabinet Secretary in charge of Devolution and Planning.
Ms Kilonzo, a former CMA chief executive, was recently appointed a member of a task-force charged with reviewing policy direction for State corporations. Mr Kamau Thuge, currently the principal secretary at the Treasury, was also named in the 10-member task-force.
Mr Joseph Kinyua, who was recently appointed a presidential adviser on finance and economic affairs, worked as the permanent secretary at the ministry of Finance. Mr Munyori Buku, who worked as director of communications at the Treasury, now heads the department of external communications and media at the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit.
According to chief executive officer of Africa Corporate Governance Advisory Services Karugor Gatamah, many appointments in a political environment are made either on a political or technical point of view.
“In a political environment, the person in power may appoint the men and women they trust. But the questions to be asked are; will the President be able to exercise discretion in such appointments? Are they the best talent we could have for such positions?” Mr Gatamah noted.
He further pointed out that the conventional approach would be to determine a number of competent officials to be vetted to determine their competence before any of them is appointed to high office. Such an approach would enhance transparency, accountability and service delivery as the appointees would not feel as if they are at the mercy of the appointing authority. 
According to risk consultant Kariithi Murimi, the challenge is that the National Assembly appears more inclined to the Executive and this brings out the question of how well they vet some of the individuals appointed to such positions. 
This in the end compromises the quality of service and performance required of such officials.
A high ranking official at Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra), who did not want to be named, asked whether the men and women were appointed based on their performance in their previous work stations or on the basis of their qualifications in their new assignment.
“It is a question of whether they performed well in their previous designations or it’s because of their qualifications that they were appointed.
There are specific indicators that such appointments are made,” the official said.
The questions of regional balance have also been raised in many such appointments with the Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto accused of favouring their regions.

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