Uhuru ignores promise, recycles old guard

The appointment of former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura to chair the board of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has exposed lack of government’s commitment to give the youth an opportunity.

Despite talk of giving the youth a chance, the old guard, some of whom have been in public service for decades, seem to be having an upper hand in getting the plum appointments in the public service.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed Mr Muthaura, a long-serving public officer now 71 years to chair the board alongside other new board members Charles Makori Omanga, Mukesh Shah, Leonard Ithau, and Susan Mudhune.

The appointment had temporarily suffered a setback when the Employment and Labour Court suspended it, but the order has since been lifted paving way for Mr Muthaura and the other four to take their positions on the board of KRA.

RETIRE HONOURABLY

“In this country people have to develop a culture of giving up State positions. Once you have served in a certain capacity for all the years some of these old guards have served, it is time to retire honourably. What is it that people are so insecure about that even after they retire, they still want to continue serving? You cannot serve in public service for decades and still want to cling on,” Ndung'u Wainaina, who heads the International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC), says.

Interestingly, at KRA, Mr Muthaura will be in good company of another old guard, Commissioner General John Njiraini, whose retirement has also been the subject of another court case.

Activist Okiya Omtatah moved to court to challenge the validity of Mr Njiraini’s contract which he argued should be subservient to the law, and a declaration that the KRA boss had served his term limits and should exit.

“The petitioner reiterates his submission that the existing law supersedes any contract made thereunder. Hence, the interested party’s employment contract is void to the extent that it states that the contract expires on March 4, 2017, which is some 73 days after the interested party attains the mandatory retirement age of 60 on December 2, 2017,” the activist argued in the suit papers.

PENDING PETITION

Mr Njiraini attained the age of 60 in December 2017, although his contract was to end in March this year. He remains in office as the country’s taxman pending the court ruling in Mr Omtatah’s petition which is expected on June 22.

In March, Mr Omtatah had also obtained a court order suspending a directive by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua to scrap the mandatory retirement age of parastatal chiefs.

In a circular dated February 27, titled “Terms of service for State corporations chief executive officers”, and addressed to all Cabinet Secretaries, the Attorney-General, and all principal secretaries, Mr Kinyua exempted the said CEOs from the mandatory retirement age of 60 years and from the six-year term limit.

It meant Mr Njiraini could have been eligible for another term despite the fact that he had attained 60 years and has also served two terms.

OVER 60

That old guards still call the shots in the government despite Jubilee Party in 2013 having campaigned on a platform of entrenching youthful leadership starts at State House where the Head of Public Service Mr Kinyua, 66, and a presidential appointee, remains in office.

During the grand coalition government, Mr Kinyua’s name had also been mentioned among those who had attained the age of 60, but were still in public service.

Then, he had been mentioned alongside Prof Karega Mutahi and Patrick Nyoike, both permanent secretaries at the time.

Prof Mutahi, at over 70 years, is also still in public service as the chairman of the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGTRC), the body that succeeded the Transition Authority (TA) to provide a framework for consultation and co-operation between the national and county governments.

INCOMPETENCE

In the recent Cabinet appointments, President Kenyatta also tapped former Kisii Senator Chris Obure, 74, to one of the newly created positions of Chief Administrative Secretary having lost the Kisii governor’s race on Jubilee ticket to James Ongwae (ODM).

Dr Obure is the CAS in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development.

At the Mombasa-based Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Major (rtd) Marsden Madoka, 75, chairs the board of directors. Not long ago, the former Mwatate MP was holding the board chairmanship of both KRA and KPA. Mr Madoka was out of the country when the KPA board decided to send on compulsory leave the managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi over alleged incompetence.

INTER-GENERATIONAL

According to Mr Wainaina, the trend of recycling the old guard into public service shows that the talk about giving the youth an opportunity is all politics.

“How do you deal with inter-generational equity in these appointments where you have so many young people with a lot of education but have not been given a fair chance to serve their country?” posed Mr Wainaina.

Unfortunately, Mr Wainaina adds, patronage and desire to reward friends and supporters has become the key consideration.