Technocratic Cabinet the fulcrum of Kenya’s democracy

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto with his second term Cabinet Secretaries at State House, Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Leadership skills for decision-makers are selected on the basis of specialised knowledge and excellence rather than political affiliations or parliamentary skills.
  • As an integral part of the pro-democracy campaign from the late 1980s, the Kenyan public demanded a technically qualified cabinet to drive policy.

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution is a system of a non-political technical cabinet.

Philosophically, this system of technocracy – defined as a system of governance where decision-makers are selected on the the basis of their skills, experience and expertise in their areas of responsibility, particularly scientific skills and knowledge – contrasts sharply with the idea that an elected representative should be the primary decision-maker in government.

Instead, leadership skills for decision-makers are selected on the basis of specialised knowledge and excellence rather than political affiliations or parliamentary skills.

However, recently, this system has come under attack. In February 2017, a retreat of the National Assembly’s leadership in Mombasa resolved that the next Parliament should consider changing the Constitution so that Cabinet Secretaries are appointed from among MPs.

ETHNIC KINGPINS

Recently, voices clamouring for the return of Kanu-era system of cabinet ministers as ethnic kingpins appointed from parliament are growing louder and bolder.

This political onslaught on Kenya’s technocratic cabinet is perhaps the most bare-faced assault on the new constitutional dispensation.

As elsewhere, Kenya’s technical cabinet is based on Baron de Montesquieu’s doctrine of Separation of Powers where the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers are vested in separate bodies. The intent of a technical cabinet is to check against the excessively centralised powers in a single ruler or institution.

The push for the return to the KANU-era system of ministers, now known as Cabinet Secretaries, appointed from amongst MPs signifies a rollback on the gains made in advancing democracy.

PRO-DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN

As an integral part of the pro-democracy campaign from the late 1980s, the Kenyan public demanded a technically qualified cabinet to drive policy.

In the wake of the opposition’s victory in the 2002 election, it was felt that ministers appointed from parliamentarians lacked relevant skills or qualifications to drive the ambitious social transformation agenda heralded by Kenya’s development blue-print, Vision 2030.

The adoption of the system of meritorious cabinet secretaries was also seen as an effective way of dismantling the all-powerful “imperial presidency” that inflamed passions during the 2007 election and partly fuelled the 2008 post-election violence.

In January 2010, the “Naivasha Consensus” by the select committee of parliament on constitutional affairs adopted an American-style pure presidential system rather than a parliamentary system, which created a cabinet system where ministers are not MPs.

ELECTION PLEDGES

But the law provided for the technical cabinet to be vetted by a parliamentary committee and endorsed by the House before the appointment.

However, on the road to 2022, the future of the technocratic executive hangs in the balance. In May 2017, as part of its election pledges, NASA promised to bring an end to “technocrats in Cabinet” and return the system of appointing MPs as Cabinet Secretaries.

Recently, Jubilee candidates in Nasa strongholds who lost in the last election are ratcheting up pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint them as cabinet ministers to serve as ethnic kingpins. The logic is patronage – a throwback to KANU-era politics, which will dilute our democracy.

Paradoxically the attack is deceptively couched in democratic parlance. NASA has argued that the return to a system of ministers appointed from MPs “will bring about more accountability to the people through their representatives.”

PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

However, appointing Cabinet Secretaries from MPs is a bridge too far. It would mean overhauling the current pure presidential system and replacing it with either a hybrid (a mix of both presidential and parliamentary systems) or a pure parliamentary system.

With little or no political experience, the majority of ministers in the technocratic cabinet have been sitting ducks in the face of political attacks and unable to navigate the mucky reality of power politics at the national and county levels.

Their survival largely depends on steering clear of corruption and walking the straight and narrow path as blamelessly as Caesar’s wife.

For the system of separation of powers to work, cabinet secretaries have to ensure that they are fully engaged with the relevant parliamentary committees. In the past, the committees have often run into headwinds of technocratic ministers snubbing meetings over “State engagements”.

TECHNICAL CABINET

Blissfully, the government has made bold steps to bridge the gap between a technocratic and technical cabinet. While unveiling his first cabinet in April 2013, he declared that: “Only Myself and Deputy President Ruto will be politicians.” No more than four former politicians were appointed to the 22-member cabinet.

This has, however, changed. In December 2014, the President named Joseph Nkaissery, an ODM MP, Cabinet Secretary in the Internal Security docket.

On November 24, 2015, he reshuffled the Cabinet, bringing in politicians to strengthen the Cabinet’s political capacity.

After the 2017 election, the President moved to strengthen the political capacity of ministries. He created the position of Chief Administration Secretary, largely occupied by individuals with political experience. The introduction of a robust system of political education can bolster the capacity of Kenya’s technocratic cabinet as the fulcrum of our democracy.

Professor Peter Kagwanja is a former government adviser and Chief Executive of Africa Policy Institute.