President William Ruto is a good and decent man, according to those who have interacted with him closely over the years. He is kind, loyal and generous to his friends, always inquiring as to their welfare and the well-being of their families and always ready to extend a helping hand to those in need.
He also does not forget those who helped his rise to the top. Like all previous Kenyan presidents, Dr Ruto reserved a generous share of public appointments for his friends, relatives and political allies. He had made certain commitments during the electioneering period and he is a man of his word.
Indeed, close associates say that is one major distinction between him and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta: He does not forget or abandon the friends and allies who contributed to his electoral successes.
And therein lies the big problem, for he is loyal and generous to a fault. We have in recent days been subjected to farcical scenes of President Ruto’s nominees to strategic public offices having their limitations cruelly exposed. Just last week, Parliamentary vetting of ambassadorial nominations laid bare a large crop who should not pass muster even for clerical jobs.
Some of the men and women nominated as our high commissioners and ambassadors in foreign shores have nowhere near the education, background, experience, exposure or even basic intelligence demanded of such assignments. Clueless ignoramuses will be sent out to embarrass not just themselves but the country as a whole.
It is clear that many of those fellows were nominated not because they have any attributes that would add value to Kenyan missions overseas but simply since the President feels the need to reward or help out jobless friends and allies.
I don’t doubt that that is within his prerogative. Heads of State across the world make political appointments to diplomatic missions. They also appoint friends and political supporters to various other public service postings—whether in the Cabinet, government administration, state corporations, statutory bodies, the Judiciary, constitutional commissions and so on.
It should be imperative, however, that the appointing authority does not disgrace himself by appointing certified dullards to jobs they are eminently unqualified and unsuitable for. Some of those fellows performing so disastrously at public hearings do nothing but make fools of themselves, becoming the butt of jokes through video clips going viral on social media.
However, the ultimate embarrassment should lie at the feet of the appointing authority, for having the gall to put forward names he surely knows cannot fit the job description. The tragedy is that even those fellows who flunk the interviews will somehow still be appointed. This is because we have made nonsense of the constitutional requirement for vetting by entrusting it to a Parliament that is more of an executive lapdog rather than public watchdog.
It is evident that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi do not see themselves as heads of independent arms of government but rather ruling party mandarins. Ditto respective Majority Leaders Kimani Ichung’wa and Aaron Cheruiyot, who in all their public utterances, reveal that they see themselves as government enforcers, making no distinction between the Executive and their oversight functions as Legislators.
So, a bunch of incompetents will be cleared to head our diplomatic missions. But that is nothing new as it follows on the same trend started with nomination and vetting of President Ruto’s first cabinet upon his assumption of office.
I don’t know whether the President is able to make the connection between some of the massive failures of the Kenya Kwanza government, which he leads, and his appointment of cabinet secretaries who either lack the basic qualities for the job or come laden with ethical questions.
We are talking about selling off or shutting down loss-making parastatals. There used to be a time long ago in history when many state corporations actually made profits and regularly presented fat dividend cheques to the National Treasury.
Then came the rot of President Daniel arap Moi’s reign, when competent managers and board members were shunted out, to be replaced by thieves and failed politicians. The looting and mismanagement that followed is legendary. Once-thriving corporations were soon on the deathbed.
Unfortunately, President Ruto is following in these failed footsteps by charging the same calibre or non-performers with the resuscitation efforts. As a shrewd businessman in his own right, President Ruto should ask himself one simple question before any future appointments to public office: Would I trust this nominee to run my private business?
