Could it be that the people President Uhuru Kenyatta put in office are not capable?
Well, it now seems like the Cabinet Secretaries that the President trusted to help him deliver his Big 4 agenda have failed him and not just him, Kenyans too. Netizens are now angry and took to Twitter to expose the CS’s who have failed to deliver.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, James Macharia is one of the leaders who have been named as the worst performing Cabinet Secretaries. According to Kenyans on Twitter, Mr. Macharia has failed to improve the transport industry in Kenya. Being one of the successors of the Late John Muchuki, the CS has come under fire for not being able to streamline the matatu industry in Kenya.
The number of rising road accidents in Kenya has also been attributed to the CS’s slackness as Kenyans say that the buck stops with him being the leader of the Transport sector. The government has however announced the return of the dreaded public transport regulations, popularly known as the Michuki Rules, to tame rogue matatu drivers in the wake of concerns over increasing road accidents.
Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, Charles Keter, has also not been spared. Mr. Keter was has been under criticism for his comments on the arrest of Kenya Power senior managers. The CS appeared to be defending the corrupt officials when they were arrested saying that the officials were to be accorded some dignity as they were innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Keter has also being blamed for the inflated power bills that increased the cost of living in Kenya. Additionally, the CS was named in the Kenya Pipeline corruption scandal after a leaked document on social media platforms went viral exposing top officials at Kenya Pipeline within the energy ministry involving billions of shillings.
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Sicily Kariuki has also come under fire for not being able to streamline the Health ministry in Kenya. While in the health docket, public hospitals have been involved in a number of scandals that have not yet been resolved. The CS was put on the spot after a man in Kenyatta National Hospital underwent brain surgery when it later emerged that it was the wrong surgery. Additionally, the CS was blamed for the death of 12 newborn babies in Pumwani hospital who died due to lack of enough incubators at the facility.
Before Sicily Kariuki was appointed CS Health, she took over the Public Service docket with the hope that she would be able to fill the loopholes in the ministry after her predescessor Anne Waiguru resigned. However, the CS was unable to do so after it emerged that 9 billion Kenya shilling disappeared under her watch. Sicily Kairuki however defended herself saying that she came into the ministry at a time where the financial systems and structures were inadequate claiming that the NYS project was extremely ambitious but had a weak foundation.
The latest CS to come under fire is Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Mwangi Kiunjuri. Mr. Kiujuri yesterday appeared before the senate to defend himself on the maize scandal. Kiunjuri and his ministry have been accused of undermining local farmers by using traders to import maize and paying them large sums of money at the expense of local farmers. Local farmers have not been paid money amounting to a total of Ksh. 3 billion.
The CS said that he was never involved in the maize scandal at the National Cereals and Produce Board claiming that by the he joined the ministry in February of 2018, he had already received Ksh. 7 billion to pay the farmers. Under his watch, there was also the sugar scandal when contraband sugar believed to have been laced with mercury and unfit for human consumption made its way into the country.
With all the loopholes in the various ministries, the bigger question is, can you blame the mechanic if the bus is poorly driven? Who do you think is to blame? The Cabinet Secretaries for being incompetent or President Kenyatta for his seemingly bad choices?