WAS IT A SERIOUS VETTING OR JUST RUBBER STAMPING EXERCISE?

 For the last one week , Kenyans were glued to their television sets as they were following the live proceedings of the vetting of  President Ruto's cabinet nominees. It is a constitutional requirements that the 2010 constitution had put in place. The first cabinet nominees to face the members of the national assembly Committee on appointments was former President Uhuru Kenyatta Jubilee Alliance Government. It was a vetting which Kenyans of all walks of life followed tentatively and holistically bearing in mind , the cabinet secretaries were to be technocrats and not politicians. This led to Kenyans meeting new faces of technocrats and bureaucrats who were new to them since , they weren't playing in the public gallery. 

The just concluded vetting was being led by National Assembly speaker Hon Moses Wetangula deputized by Uasin Gishu Women Rep Hon Gladys Shollei. The committee on appointments comprised members of the national assembly drawn from the majority coalition Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the minority Azimio la Umoja one Kenya Alliance coalition party. Both majority leader, majority whip , minority leader and minority whip were present and took their respective positions accordingly. The vetting took place smoothly where there was a mixture of laughter moments and the tempo ones. In such an exercise, it was expected. What attracted my attention and hope is you the reader of this article is , the chair, Hon Wetangula and his fellow Kenya Kwanza Alliance brigade in that session were asking very cosmetic questions to the nominees whereby, follow up on some of the issues which the nominees weren't satisfactorily providing answers and shedding more light on the were just ignored. This is akin to a referee in officiating a football match who wears a jersey of the one of the competing teams and convince the opponent team , its technical bench and supporters that you will render a just and transparent officiating? ZERO!!!!!!!

The cabinet secretary nominees who didn't convince me at all with no malace or hate but by being patriotic to my mother Country Kenya , they are : Internal security CS nominee Prof. Kithure Kindiki , Public Service and gender nominee Aisha Jumwa, Agriculture docket nominee Mithika Linturi, Tourism CS nominee Peninah Malonza. For CS Treasury nominee Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u I just gave him a benefit of doubt but I hope against hope that , he will correct the dark footprints he felt in the Central Bank of Kenya when he was serving as the governor. Thank that the president then was an astute economist , the late President Mwai Kibaki. Without any fear of contradictions or illwill , the Azimio la Umoja MNAs in that vetting were posing cross cutting questions to the nominees and in an unequivocal manner. When their Kenya Kwanza Alliance allied MNAs were asking leading questions and also answering some questions posed by Azimio camp, they were not taking any chances. From their end , they were fully aware that , before putting the coalition party that sponsored them during the last general elections, they were putting Kenya before everything else. They want to give Kenyans the best Cabinet Secretaries who will serve them diligently and passionately not dafts and inept and mediocre personels in the name of reward loyalty and settling political debts at the expense of integrity and meritocracy.

It is cognizance to note that , the National Assembly Committee on appointments has retreated in Mombasa County to draft a report that will be tabled in the plenary inside the floor of the National Assembly. If there will be no consensus between the members of the committee who are drawn from Kenya Kwanza Alliance (majority) and Azimio la Umoja (minority) on the suitability of some CS nominees , then, they will withdraw and draft their minority report citing reasons as to why they reject the certification of some cabinet secretary nominees. It will be prudent to do that because, it will give the National Assembly and the citizens to draw conclusions and rhyme them with the findings they too drawn after following the vetting proceedings in the leading television stations. If the majority coalition which is the ruling coalition will see it fir to endorse them irrespective of their unsuitability yo hold those coveted state jobs , then, if they don't deliver but embark on orchestrating and engineering scandals, looting and embezzling of public funds , the minority members of the national assembly who are part of the committee on appointments won't be crucified by Kenyans. 

I listened to Tourism and Wildlife CS nominee and she was at pains to tell the committee how she will do it better than his predecessor but she sounded alienated with that docket. Totally alienated. I asked myself, is this the person who will be bestowed to handle a coveted ministry that generates Kenya's foreign exchange? On Mithika Linturi , the fellow battling almost 35 criminal charges in various courts in Kenya shocked many Kenyans. The shock will be cemented if the committee on appointments will endorse him and subsequent the plenary of the National Assembly if his nominee will reach to that point. Vetting process is a very important exercise. We're it not for it , Kenyans would have totally be alienated with the character and nature of the leaders who will be seating on the cabinet with the President and his Deputy President to draft policies and implement them. If you place incompetent people there , how do you expect to give tangible results? That can't happen. Let's hope the committee which is holed in Mombasa County will give this country the best. They should shed off their political affiliations and sycophancy and put Kenya before everything else. That's what is called patriotism. We all saw PM Liz Truss putting UK before her personal interests and aggrandizement. The same is expected from the members of that Committee.