New Finance Minister: Possibles And Probables

As President Kibaki grapples with the decision of appointing a new finance minister, he must be finding that his options are extremely limited.

There are several reasons for this. Probably top on the list is that the President needs somebody he can work with closely. This is because despite the president’s approach of delegating, being an economist and one of Kenya’s longest serving finance ministers, the finance ministry is his pet docket and in terms of policy and direction has been dominated by Kibaki ideas right from day one. There are those who would argue strongly that the real Finance Minister has been Kibaki himself.

To make matters worse, the President’s possible choices are very limited in a list of ministers that includes the likes of Koigi Wa Wamwere, Maina Kamanda and radical Embakasi MP Mwenje.

Settling for the old guard within the cabinet is an unlikely option because this will be both a PR disaster and the wazees are also bound to want to be their own man and thus drift away from the carefully crafted policies that have shown promise so far. The old guard would include the likes of former finance ministers, George Saitoti and Simeon Nyachae.

The whole issue is further complicated by the fact that as the elections draw dangerously close, the economy is one of the very few areas where the current government can point to being a success. The president is naturally desperate to maintain this image and it will be at the top of his mind as he settles on his choice for a new finance minister.

Chances are high that an Assistant Minister will suddenly find themselves elevated into this plum job. But rather than being their own man, they should be prepared to work under very close supervision from the boss himself.

Some would consider Mukurweni MP Mutahi Kagwe who has handled sensitive assignments for the president in recent times to be a front runner for this job. He is currently the minister for communications. If this were to happen then a new Minister from Meru would most probably be appointed to the reshuffled cabinet to keep the careful regional balance in the so called government of national unity.

Yet another option would be to appoint the first woman Finance Minister in the history of the country. This could just be the sort of PR gimmick that can divert a lot of public attention away from a number of critical issues facing this government. The likes of Dagoretti MP Beth Mugo would be a likely choice if such a course of action were taken.

2007 Kenyan Presidential Race: John Githongo For President

John Githongo

Today we put forward the name of a young brave Kenyan whom we hope will seriously consider running for the Presidency in 2007.

Our priority in Kenya right now is to deal with corruption and John Githongo has risked his life in doing just that. He is amongst the very few Kenyans who have said “no” to sudden untold wealth. A decision that has cost him dearly because as you read this, the man is in exile in Britain fearing for his life. He is proof that there is hope amongst the younger generation in this country and that there is a better chance of finding integrity in a new generation of Kenyans born at around the time the country got its’ independence in 1963.

This man, like many people of his age is above tribal affiliations and therefore his tribe is totally irrelevant here. Let us bury forever this notion that it is the turn of such and such a tribe to eat. The last three governments have ensured that there is nothing left to “eat”. Rather than “eat”, the time has come for patriotic Kenyans who love their country to take on the serious and heavy responsibility of getting rid of the extremely corrupt older generation of politicians who are leading us nowhere. It is not a privilege but a sacrifice for the good of our children and future generations.

Let us strive for a future where leaders will go into public office with clear ideas of what they can do to uplift the life of the ordinary Kenyan. So far people fight for political office and spent huge sums of money as a business investment for which they expect good returns at all costs. The good returns are supposed to come from money earned from corruption.

Former Ethics PS John Githongo is a good place to start. In our efforts to turn around things in Kenya.

Readers of this blog are of course free to air their views here and elsewhere on what they think of a John Githongo Presidency. This is important because I want to make it clear that the fact that we have named this young Kenyan as our preferred candidate for the top job in Kenya does not mean we have suddenly become partisan. After all, we are just being consistent because a careful reading of the posts in this blog will clearly show you that our main objective right from inception has always been to support the ascension to power of a new younger generation of political leaders in Kenya.