Delivery unit signals President’s desire to get things done

President Uhuru Kenyatta signalled a looming shake-up of his administration as it enters the midway point of his first term with far-reaching changes announced on Friday evening expected to result in the implementation of a system of accountability targeting senior members of his team.

The creation of a presidential delivery unit has been described by sources as the clearest effort by the President to stamp his own imprint on the government, after previously complaining he was being sabotaged by long-serving civil servants.

The poaching of a private sector player, Mr Nzioka Waita, who is seen in corporate circles as having played the Mr-Fix-It role for Safaricom CEOs Michael Joseph and Bob Collymore, was described as an effort to streamline operations within government and to root out those viewed as standing in the way of his administration’s agenda.

KICC BASE

Mr Waita will be backed by a team already based at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre with a heavy private sector representation but government watchers say the unit will face major challenges reforming the official bureaucracy which is famously resistant to change.

This is especially so because among the most far-reaching changes expected to be carried out in the next few weeks are in the security sector where President Kenyatta has come under severe public pressure following a string of attacks by the Shabaab, most recently at Garissa University College where 148 Kenyans were killed.

“This is broadly a good move,” says Prof Joseph Kieyah of the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis. “Individuals from the private sector are often driven by the demand to meet goals and offer shareholders value for money.

“To be honest, this same attitude is not broadly embraced in the public sector and it is good to bring in fresh minds whose attitudes are not coloured by politics to drive change.”

The Presidential Delivery Unit is modelled on a team assembled in London by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair which served between 2002 and 2010. It was the focal point for decision-making and policy implementation under Mr Blair and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Mr Blair’s African Governance Institute has been drafted in to offer advice to Mr Kenyatta and will offer capacity support to the unit, which is now headed by Dr Steve Ndele, another technocrat brought in from outside government.

On his visit to Nairobi in February, Mr Blair described the delivery unit as one of the most vital teams during his premiership.

ACTION PLANS

 “The President’s Delivery Unit is meant to take the promises that the Presidency has made and convert them into action plans, which can be achieved within a promised deadline,” he said. “I found the Delivery Unit instrumental to me as Prime Minister in ensuring that I kept focused and delivered tangible results”.

The new unit will report to Mr Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto (or the Presidency) and will have the mandate of tracking and reporting on the progress of the implementation of key government projects.

Mr Waita, who will work closely with Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua and Secretary to the Cabinet Monica Juma, will have the most difficult task including identifying individuals who are standing in the way of key changes.

Principal Secretaries and Cabinet Secretaries are among those who will come under scrutiny for the implementation of projects under their dockets.

The new Principal Secretary for Interior, Major-General (rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa, will also have a key role because security has quickly overtaken all other items as a key priority for the Kenyatta administration.

Dr Samuel Nyandemo of the University of Nairobi identified tackling corruption as one of the key challenges the new team will have to confront.

“Fixing the procurement system is an essential task because that is what feeds a lot of corruption and leads to inefficiency and slow implementation of projects due to conflict of interest.

“It is encouraging to see people from the private sector being brought in to tackle these problems and with the right kind of support, there is no reason why they shouldn’t succeed.”

A source familiar with the deliberations which led to the latest changes told the Sunday Nation that President Kenyatta had outlined a number of key priorities which he would like constant updates about, top among them security.

PUBLIC RESOURCES

It is expected reform of the institutional machinery within the police force, including to check why the police have routinely failed to act on intelligence about terror threats and the repeated diversion of public resources, will top the agenda of the new team.

A second key priority is in the agriculture sector where Mr Eugene Wamalwa has been drafted in as Cabinet Secretary for Water and Irrigation with a remit to focus on securing the country’s food basket.

Education and access of ICT tools to pupils, an area which represents the most spectacular failure of the Jubilee administration after a laptop-for-pupils scheme fell through, is another.

Infrastructure development, including the standard gauge railway, a new terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Lamu Port project are other priorities as are devolution of services and the elimination of corruption in retail transactions for public services involving wananchi.

The promotion of Mr Wamalwa will, however, be seen as an attempt by the Jubilee administration to make inroads in Western Kenya which is seen as a Cord territory.

Mr Kenyatta has been described as taking a corporatist approach to government and seeking to tap the experience of figures within the private sector but despite relatively strong approval ratings, he enters the halfway point of his term under pressure on several fronts including the security sector and will be hoping the new team will help to stabilise his administration.

The dropping of Mr Francis Kimemia as Secretary to the Cabinet could also mean the President is keen to take full control of government operations. This follows perceptions that Mr Kimemia and other long-serving government officials inherited from the Mwai Kibaki administration controlled too much power.

It remains to be seen if President Kenyatta will make further changes to his government, especially considering five Cabinet secretaries and other senior officials are on suspension over corruption allegations.