It came as a surprise yesterday when the government appointed one Njuguna Ndung'u to head the central bank of Kenya after the unceremonious exit of Dr Andrew Mulei who is facing criminal charges in court.
I have nothing against Mr Ndung'u but isn't it improper for a ministry to have a minister, permanent secretary and even the boss of the top parastatal body in that ministry from one tribe?
This is exactly what is happening at the finance ministry, the minister is Amos Kimunya, the permanent secretary is Mr Kinyua and now the governor of CBK is Mr Ndung'u, to add insult to injury, the head of the Kenya revenue authority is one Mr Waweru, the list is endless.
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Kimunya is said to be among the level headed men in Kibaki's inner circle but of late it seems the power and the fear of losing an election is getting the better of him as Kikuyu's take all the big jobs in the finance docket ahead of the general elections.
Kenyans have all the reason to read mischief in these appointments and pessimists have already prophesied that the Kibaki administration is about to buy back power by bribing voters in the forthcoming elections hence the positioning of Kibaki's tribesmen in all key positions involving money.
Not to mention, all sensitive posts like ministers for internal security, defense and director general for security intelligence are all Kikuyus along with the chiefs of the largest parastatal bodies in the country. In fact this government is more tribalistic than the tyrannical Moi regime and one wonders what would happen if Kibaki got re-elected later this year. Are there not 42 tribes in Kenya and is there no sensitive person in this administration to make the effort of finding qualified Kenyans from other tribes?
What amazes Kenyans is the fact that the president seems to have buried his head in the sand over all these appointments and may not even be aware that there is a striking tribal imbalance in his government.
It is an open secret in high circles that his excellency suffers from frequent memory lapses and his minders are taking full advantage of it for their own selfish interests including fixing their friends and relatives to key positions in Kibaki's administration. Of course, these minders are all from the same tribe.
As a matter of fact, these appointments are a major cause of discontent among Kenyans and it will be an issue that the opposition will definitely capitalize on in their campaigns to demonize Kibaki's administration ahead of the general elections.
It also might not be surprising that these controversial appointments could cause Kibaki his re-election notwithstanding the popularity of a mostly united opposition under ODM-Kenya.
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OK, Kumekucha now that's a low one. From what I read it seems this man is well-qualified for the job. He was also head-hunted from the same organisation that the former Governor A. Mullei ( before he decided to give contracts to his brood...).
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Kenyans ? Every appointment is looked upon through the tribal tag. Does it occur to most of you that what we require is level-headed people and performers to guide the precarious job esp given it's an election year? Maybe it's too early to judge but I will give him the benefit of doubt and hope he delivers ( as his credentials would profess).
Please don't mislead people Kumekucha, you should be the last of such people, given you're an intellect ( at least from a couple of your blogs) !
Obsava,
ReplyDeleteOh plizzzzzzzzzz, you know this, we know this, come on. Be smart for once
Surely we have eyes and we don't see, we have ears and don't hear. Hidding under meaningless grandiose slogans like merit won't wash. Criticising Chris for telling-as-it-is is akin to lynchinh the messenger while conviniently ignoring the messenger. Spell the coffee Obsavah. Just look: for defence (Michuki+Muya+Gituai), education (Saitoti+Mwiria+Mugo+Karega), Finance (Kimunya+Kinyua+Kenneth+Ndungu+Waweru) etc. You mean there are no other Kenyans with PhD in economics? Ati head-hunted. Tell that to the birds, we don't need such cheap sanitization of rot. Ours is a tribal steep slide gone mad. Even Moi couldn't do that in 24 years, we are destined for irredemable doom.
ReplyDeleteChris is right on the mark, this was a misadvised move by the govt. to give this post to a Kikuyu. Anonymous here is being very naïve, to say the least. Nowhere in the world are appointments made only on education and experience one has, those are usually just some of the criteria. For every public post in Kenya, there are over 30 highly qualified individuals for the job – from every tribe. If it was just about qualifications, do you think it would be hard to get 50 highly qualified kikuyu from every profession and post them to every ministry, departments and parastatals, and it would be fine since they are qualified? Chris why don’t you give us stats of tribal appointments in all ministries. Name and shame.
ReplyDeleteKikuyus/Total Population: 24 %
ReplyDeleteKikuyu Ministers/Total: 20%
Assit. Min Kyuk/Total Ass. Min: 22%
How is this not proportional?
I agree merit is the first thing that comes to mind in appointing someone to office. But again you can't ignore that there are 42 tribes in Kenya who expect to be recognized through serving the country in high level jobs. It may be true that there are many Kikuyus who are highly educated and experienced but that does not negate the presence of the other tribes. The case of proportionality is just a fallacy and an illegitimate way to justify such appointments.
ReplyDeleteIt is not very low yet for the comments from an anonymous reader. Assistant minister (finance) Peter Kenneth, despite his background, is a Kikuyu. Yes, he respresents a constituency in Kikuyu land, by virtue of his mum being a Kikuyu by tribe. But this is not the first one. Years back Mzee Kenyatta did the same and Moi perfected the art of tribalising key ministries or plum jobs in this case. It is not low yet, if you imagine that the people are capable to do the job are from one tribe. Remember Prof Oliech at Medical Services at one time, how many Luos were below him or spread in the rung below him. What about the Military with Moi as C-I-C and eight of the top general from one tribe. It is not new. It is tribalism perfected!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy is it the first thing all you have looked at is the tribe the new governor comes from? What does that tell you? Tribalism in you.
ReplyDeleteI must concede that the issue of triibalism is a controversial one. Prima facie it seems that kikuyus occupy plum positions of government. Personally, i believe that an individual should be assessed for a job based on merit alone. However, given the political ramifications of government appointments, a suitable regional balance should be a goal the government should strive for. I truly dream of a Kenya whereby on is not looked at as a member of his/her tribe first, but as a kenyan then a member of a tribe. Given the statistics an anonymous contributor stated(yet to be verified), giving the percentages, then this issue has just been politicised. I challenge anyone to verify statistics of the ethinicity of ministers and assistant ministers plus parastatal chiefs, then and only then can we make an informed judgement.
ReplyDeleteThe percentages kinda caught my eye. They might be true but if out of the 24%, a majority hold high positions and the rest of the tribes hold low level jobs within their proportion, is it still fair?
ReplyDelete