Delays in appointments signal worrying indecisiveness

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.Although the two Jubilee principals have not been in direct public confrontation, some words have slipped out that illustrate the underlying tension between leaders who have always made a great show of putting their bromance on public display. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Many strategic departments and institutions in government, including universities and colleges, are now being led by chief executives in an acting capacity.
  • Fellows in transition and in acting capacity cannot develop long-term visions for an organisation whose future they are not sure of being part of.

For the past few years, several positions in government have fallen vacant and remained unfilled for long periods of time.

Many strategic departments and institutions in government, including universities and colleges, are now being led by chief executives in an acting capacity. Indeed, close to three months after the last presidential election, Cabinet positions have also not been substantively filled.

There must be many reasons why there are many acting CEOs of government agencies. However, the perception out here is that the decision-makers are either unable or unwilling to make the necessary decisions. This is a very dangerous state of affairs, given the magnitude of decisions that need to be made at this point in our history.

FINAL DECISION

In some cases, interviews have been carried out and people shortlisted for appointment into substantive positions, but the appointing authorities remain lethargic and reluctant to make the final decision.

The result is that we have CEOs acting in positions they applied for a substantive appointment to, some over a year ago. The appointing authorities can be told by even the greenest of business school students that such a situation does not encourage productivity, but in fact becomes the prime repository of mediocrity.

One will most definitely be forgiven for imagining that this country and the many institutions that keep it going are running on autopilot.

Fellows in transition and in acting capacity cannot develop long-term visions for an organisation whose future they are not sure of being part of. Keeping leadership in a state of uncertainty is the surest way to tip a struggling institution over the precipice and lead to its eventual demise.

Indeed many of the institutions without substantive leadership are in dire straits and would do with the appointment of firm substantive leadership to begin charting new paths for them.

PERIODIC EVALUATION

In the traditional government set up, top level officials set overall policy that is then interpreted by middle level officials for implementation by the rest of the team.

The reason no vacancy is anticipated at the top level is that policy formulation and direction is a continuous process that is meant to be informed by feedback from the implementers as well as periodic evaluation by those that interpret the policy.

Middle level vacancies are often disregarded, leading to a situation whereby those “acting” in the respective positions engage in a mechanistic interpretation of policies with little creativity and an over-abundance of caution.

Unfortunately this situation leads to stagnation of institutions at best, and gradual decline and collapse in the worst cases. CEOs of government institutions and departments are the main interpreters of policy for purposes of implementation, and a government that is unable to fill these important positions risks coming up with very attractive policies that will then be poorly implemented.

FOOD SECURITY

Recently, President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled his plans for the next five years, focusing on universal health coverage, food and nutrition security, manufacturing, and affordable housing.

These are hugely important plans for a country, and require the best brains available to translate to actions that will see a significant improvement in the population’s quality of life.

Universities and other government agencies are the sources of these clever people. Unfortunately, most of these experts will require to be given the mandate by their CEOs, and then facilitated to develop strategies and plans to implement the stated policy initiatives.

One wonders which acting CEO is able to think even a few months down the line without the knowledge that their thinking will continue to inform operations in the long term.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

It, therefore, follows that many institutions that would ordinarily be charged with implementing the government’s new strategic direction will not be firing on all cylinders should they actually take up the task. This is a recipe for failure and, five years from now, we shall be ruing our missteps that will have set us firmly on a disastrous path.

It is imperative that for the future of this country and the success of the new government agenda, all the vacant positions in strategic government bodies be filled without further delay.

Atwoli is Associate Professor and Dean, Moi University School of Medicine [email protected]