Africa Unscrambled: Kenya's Ministry for Paper Clips
At last! Some 45 days since Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement the two men have finally worked out exactly how they are going to do it. It's not pretty.
In a bid to keep as many politicians from as many parts of the country as happy as possible Kenya will now have a cabinet of 43, plus more than 50 assistant ministers. Pity the poor backbencher left with nothing - around half of all MPs will be on the government payroll.
Some of the new ministries are ridiculous and unnecessary. Not content with a Ministry of Health, there is now also a separate Ministry of Medical Services and Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.
Despite there already being a Nairobi City Council, the capital now gets its own Ministry for Nairobi Metropolitan Development. How Kenya has managed before without a Ministry of Cooperatives Development or a Ministry for Vision 2030, I do not know.
This would be funny, except Kenya can ill-afford to waste public money on such a bloated government. Kibaki and Odinga have already put out the begging bowl, asking the international community for almost £250m to help reconstruct the country. The donor countries will have noticed that the government still seems to have enough money for fancy ministerial cars and ludicrously high wages.
Hmmmm...
Posted by: rantmagazine:boohoo | Monday, 14 April 2008 at 04:58 PM
Steve,
It is certainly an incredible burden on the economy but it is the lesser of two bad choices. It is better to have a functioning Government than what we witnessed earlier in the year, which was akin to anarchy. Our Politicians are certainly a priveleged class but they might do well to note that the tectonic plates are shifting. The Electorate is now more emboldened and empowered and is unlikely to countenance
any shenanigans. Consensus seems to be that the Coalition will have a short shelf life [24 months or so]. I disagree
and feel its now about 2012 and if you are a Politician you need to be a player and in the game. Its about service delivery.
Aly-Khan Satchu
www.rich.co.ke
Posted by: Aly-Khan Satchu | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 08:48 AM
writing out of ignorance is bad enough. the ministry of cooperative development has been in kenya since 20 years and is not new?
where were you when we were being killed here? let there be 100 ministries it it will guarantee us life and security. keep your money in uk if you want.
Posted by: gege | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 09:28 AM
Aly-Khan, you're right, the electorate is more emboldened. The inevitable focus on the presidential result and the post-election violence meant the parliamentary results got overlooked - most of the old guard from both the Kibaki and Moi eras were swept away.
Gege, apologies, but the main point still stands. I doubt you'll find many Kenyans who agree with your statement that 100 ministries will bring security. As for where I was when people were being killed...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/a-chilling-tour-of-the-kenyan-church-that-became-the-scene-of-mass-murder-767804.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-they-killed-our-people-so-now-we-will-do-likewise-we-are-just-revenging-775172.html
Posted by: Steve Bloomfield | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 09:59 AM
Bloomfield, Gege is absolutely right. Take your racist money and shove it up your backside! As a Kenyan, I can tell you that we don't care about the size of the Cabinet. The few guys making some angry noises are the silly NGO types funded by people like in the West, and MI6. You people must stop peddling racist BS in the name of objective reporting. As Gege points out, you even lie outrightly about such issues as the ministry of cooperatives to push a point. Your readers deserve better!
Posted by: couchpotato | Wednesday, 16 April 2008 at 12:46 PM
gege and couchpotato comments are uneducated and uncalled for.
the cabinet is bloated, thats fact, and only serves to keep the coalition afloat and hence the two heads in control of their minions. meanwhile our other problems remain unresolved.
always verify your facts, your readers assume you to be an authority and form opinions that are more difficult to dismantle later
Posted by: KenyanDamu | Monday, 07 July 2008 at 04:28 AM
My question is not on the number of ministries but the intention with which the ministries were created. For eficiency or to reward political loyals? The MOH for example had undergone a lot of transformations administratively and operationaly. Decentralization, devolution and deligation of governance in the ministry in line with NHSSP II to achieve the MDGs was a perfect model. Shall we replicate the relevant portfolies to each of the ministries? Do we already have defined roles of each ministry or do they still conflict in management and operations? Who bears the additional costs on the unnecessary replicate/ duplication of resources?
Posted by: Vitalis Akora | Saturday, 09 August 2008 at 10:12 AM